MapleStory: The Spiral Path
by Squall 'Tabuukilla' Lione
Summary: A lighthearted tale of the Five Heroes on their journey to stop the unsealing of the Black Mage! Dangerous ventures, vicious monsters, and other trials stand in their path. But even worse, they have to cope with each other! Contains an original OC who's the Pirate Hero, full details inside. Note that the Pirate Hero is an original addition by me.
1. The Beginning of the Spiral Path

**ZOMG MapleStory fic? Anyway, this fic is also known as: DAT MAPLESTORY FIC. XD. Or what happens when a Gurren Lagann and MapleStory fan tries to somewhat combine them! Ahaha... not really.**

**Akito: Seriously man?**

**Evan: Oh damn, he's here too?**

**Mercedes: ...**

**Akito: Holy crap, you've terrified her enough she's silent for once?**

**Aran: ...This troubles me.**

**Shut up, all of you! Before I go all MOAR DAKKA on all of you. With my manly machineguns of manliness!**

**Akito: Says the one who plays as the Mercedes class as a guy. Seriously, dude, you call yourself a man?**

**It's elves and fantasy. Besides, they've got MOAR DAKKA which puts them in my good books. Anyway, I don't own MapleStory, but I do own my characters.**

**Oh, Akito is also going to be the Pirate Hero. I'm not sure if his official story has been released, so I'm making my own. Originally he was just going to be a Badass Normal, but to complete the hero stuff, why not? He doesn't start off with his Pirate Stuff for a while though. It might be a few chapters or so before he actually does get his Pirate things. He's using a different weapon that might go under a Warrior class, but it's special. Trust me.**

**Also, we'll be following Mercedes' storyline with a few extra parts here and there. It will also kinda be changed, so if they aren't the same, sorry about that.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own MapleStory.**

**And, another thing: I started this rewrite because of the first review it got! It was quite eye opening and I looked at this fic and almost cried since I compared it to my other fic-in-progess (check profile), The Return, and the difference in quality is very sad... The Return was a story I'm writing the focuses a lot on character interactions, and while it's really good so far, this one was kinda... eh. Yeah. You get the idea. (Note, The Return is down for planning since I wasn't pleased with it)**

**Warning: You will either love or hate all the new things that I put in. Trust me, I've gotten mixed feedback from my beta readers...**

* * *

"Alright guys, I know what to do." A man with spiky black hair combed back said, his tattered brown cape flowing, lightning illuminating his shining silver armor. He surveyed the scene. The castle was a heap of rubble. Dead trees went on for miles, and rocks were all that was left other than castle remnants and dead mass.

"We can't do much," a young woman with her long blonde hair, commented. She shivered as the cold wind blew, as she was dressed rather lightly in her pure white clothing.

"The Black Mage's got a shield that we can't get through, how are we gonna do anything?" a thinly white haired man, clad in black, gold trimmed armor, asked, sighing as he heaved his golden polearm, forced to watch as the Black Mage gathered more and more energy. The letter sent by the Commander of the Black Mage's forces had warned them about it. It was a shame they arrived too late, since the barrier had reformed.

"Even Alfrien can't get enough energy to break through it." Freed grumbled, his dark green coat being blown in the wind.

"None of my skills will get through it either." Phantom nodded his head, buttoning his white coat together, "So, how are you going to do it, Cid?"

"That's 'Thunder God Cid' to you," he chuckled, "Hey, Freed. Take my cloak and drill spear." he handed said items to him, "Put them near that river I loved back home... Aniki."

"...Very well." he put the two items into his magical-seemingly-infinite-space bag, "But still, Cid... what ARE you going to do?"

Cid smirked as he heaved his cannon in right hand and his left hand cackled with electricity as a shark's shape began to form.

"Well, I've left instructions for anyone else who wants to wield a cannon as a weapon, hidden, of course, as I AM a Pirate, and we do hide our treasure... and I also left the art of using my electricity based attacks in a book and gave it to Aria... which she'll pass on to the next Empress." he sighed, "So my legacies of the weapons I used will not be forgotten. And that drill spear... perhaps another will find it and realize what it can do... if he has the potential!"

"And how will we know of this... potential?" Mercedes, the young blonde woman, asked.

"He'll have eyes of the spiral... like me." Cid's eyes glowed with the familiar pattern, "As for the Black Mage..."

Cid focused all of his magical power into three electric sharks that began to circle him as he lifted his cannon into the air, creating a massive drill.

"Guys... this'll probably kill me... once I break his shield... kill or seal him. I don't care. Just get him out of this world..." Cid said in a rarely heard solemn voice, "I don't want his darkness as a part of this amazing world we call home."

"But, Cid!" they all cried out.

"Don't try to talk me out of it... I know what must be done." he sighed, "So long, my friends... Freed, Merc, Phantom... and Aran. Thinking back... maybe we were all just travelers on the road of time... heading towards the future we create together... It was all the coincidences, the inevitabilities, the ways the dice rolled, which created our chance encounters that allowed us to meet one another and everyone else along our journey, which in turn created out powerful bonds we drew strength upon to get this far. Ha! Life sure is one hell of a thing, isn't it?"

The other heroes were silent, swallowing every word he said made them unable to speak.

"Maybe now, your own TRUE adventures are just starting. After all, we all just started out as adventurers with our own tricks and trades, here and there. And look where that got us..." Cid smiled, "The Warrior, Magician, Bowman, Thief... and Pirate Heroes... as an example for others everywhere. Don't worry! I'll keep my fingers crossed for all of you in your futures! Farewell... allies, comrades... friends."

"Cid! Don't go!" Mercedes ran towards him, but a barrier blocked her, "C-cid...?"

"I'm sorry Merc..." he felt a tear drip down his cheek as he pulled her in for one last embrace, "I'm afraid this is goodbye."

"Cid... no..." she forced out between sobs, sinking to her knees as the Phantom and Aran rushed to her side to help her up.

**"BLACK MAGE! YOU SHALL HARM THIS WORLD NO LONGER!" **Cid roared over the whipping winds. The winds also suddenly stopped, as if they feared what 'Thunder God Cid' could do.

_**"IMPUDENT MAPLEER! HOW DARE YOU STAND UP TO ME... Ha! What am I afraid of? I have a shield you can't break! Just try to stop me!"**_ The Black Mage cackled as his black cloak covered all but his glowing red eyes.

**"Very well then. Challenge accepted." **Cid raised his drill high into the air an channeled even more magic power into it, increasing its size along with the size of the sharks and now electricity sparked all over the drill.

And his final worlds would be ones that would inspire hope in those with good in their hearts and fear into those whose lives were corrupt with darkness as he poured every ounce of his life energy and magic energy into his attack. As he felt the last bit of life leave him to put power in this drill that would be not a representation of his soul, but his actual soul manifested into its true physical form. It would be what saved Maple World, if his friends could do it... but he didn't have to worry about that, after all, he had belief in his friends that they could beat the Black Mage. After all, they made it this far, didn't they?

_Here I go. It ends here._

**"GIGA... ELECTRIC DRILL... BREAKER!"**

* * *

**_"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN I'M ONLY LEVEL TEN?"_**

A young boy woke from his sleep as an ear piercing scream. Rolling around in his hammock, he found his way.

"Fuck!" he sneered as he fell onto the ground, "Guh..."

The young boy, Akito Lieri, shook his head as to wake himself up. He also grabbed his drill spear that was leaning on the tree. He had an ingenious system that if one of the pigs, as rowdy and rebellious as they were getting, tried to somehow steal his spear, it would shake his hammock enough to wake him up. Being a light sleeper was always a good thing.

Akito sighed as he checked his supplies. Two apples and a bottle of water. It would last him today if he was careful with consumption.

_Stupid dad, won't let me go out there and become an adventurer like grandaddy. The only reason I even remain here is Evan. I owe him... once I get him to grow a backbone, then I can leave... _Akito grumbled as he removed his clothing, consisting of a black sweater, white shirt with a flaming skull with traingular sunglasses, black jeans, and brown leather boots made for hiking. His dad had kicked him out of the house when he didn't do farm work, instead, Akito read books and drew. Despite his mom's protests, he left the house, but still resided on the land nearby simply because if his mom needed something, he'd be there for her. Unless his dad was part of the request, of course.

His brother was no help either, as he had given into hunger and lack of shelter. He came back to the farm and begged for forgiveness for wanting to go out into the world and explore, then swore he'd stay on the farm. Akito on the other hand, simply yelled, "TRAITOR!" when that happened.

Diving into the river, Akito ran his hands through his sleek silvery hair. He shivered as the cold liquid ran down his face, and wiped the water out of his eyes, staring at his reflection. His dark blue eyes had a odd spiral pattern in them, which was something no one else had. Akito found it cool. Others found it weird, and avoided him.

After five minutes, he got out and grabbed his towel which he kept in a small backpack along with several other essentials. Once he was dry, he slipped back into his clothes. Slinging his drill spear over his shoulder with the strap he had attached to it, he began walking towards Evan's household.

* * *

"O-oh, h-hey, Aniki..." Evan stammered, getting up from his seat on a tree stump.

"Hey bro, you look different..." Akito titled his head. Evan was wearing his black sneakers, light blue jeans, navy blue shirt, and red sweater, and something else.

"O-oh..." Evan's interest in the ground and the tip of his shoes suddenly skyrocketed as he broke eye contact with Akito.

"Evan, don't start every sentence with 'Oh'," Akito shook his head, "You gotta be different sometimes."

"R-right!" he nodded, "I-I got the hat from Victoria..." he blushed, removing the said hat and holding it in front of him, his bushy brown hair springing out.

"Aha! I _told _you she liked you!"

"Aniki!" his blush became even deeper.

_Finally... _Akito smiled, _I KNEW that with all that niceness, er... also submissiveness? would be charming to a few girls._

While Akito wasn't exactly the smartest person, he had read enough books that the library in Henesys had to learn basic psychology and the signs of attraction. After all, Evan's birthday wasn't for another six months and she had gotten him a gift now? There weren't any holidays that Akito knew about that were around now.

He also smiled for another reason. Evan usually denied gifts, as he usually said that he wasn't really worthy of it. The boy had a bit of a self-confidence problem, and Akito stuck around him because he owed Evan for something, and decided to fix that confidence problem to pay him back.

"Anyway, who's your little friend?" Akito pointed at the small flying lizard near Evan's head.

"O-oh... you noticed him."

"Iiiiiiii~iiii'm Mir!" it cheered, "I'm a dragon!"

For some reason, Akito seemed to believe it. He shrugged, trusting the Evan knew what he was doing. After all, a farm kid would know how to take care of animals... right? There was another part of his mind that was telling him a different version of him wouldn't believe it.

Akito merely brushed the thought aside, blaming it on old apples.

"I already tried feeding it several things. It seems to like milk." Evan nodded vigorously, "It keeps saying we should go adventuring..."

"Then let's go!" Akito's eyes widened.

"W-wha? A-aniki! Y-you really w-wanna go?"

"Yeah! I've waited a _long _time for this! I didn't want to leave you behind, little bro." he ruffled Evan's hair, since Akito was a few inches taller than him, "Besides, it wouldn't be an adventure without those I care about!"

"Y-yeah!" Evan smiled, "I'll go tell mom! I know she'll let me!"

"What about Victoria?" Akito asked with an innocent look on his face, holding back a smirk.

"O-oh... right... she'll be worried for me... I don't want to make her sad..."

"I knew it." he smirked.

"What? Akito!"

"Ahahaha!" Akito laughed as he waved his hand, "Go on Evan, go ask them."

* * *

Evan came back a little while later with his brown backpack, whistling a tune that Akito found very comforting.

"So, what can Mir do?" Akito asked, looking over the hills they'd have to traverse before they reached Henesys.

"He can shoot magic bolts, and apparently he has this thing called 'Skill Points' that I can attribute towards his various sklls... the only other thing I can put them into is this thing that pretty much increases my powers." Evan said quickly.

"Wow! That's awesome." Akito twirled his spear, "I think you're gonna much cooler than your drill spear swinging brother!"

"N-no, I could never surpass you." Evan reassured his spiritual brother.

"Evan!" a female voice that sounded distressed called out. The voice belonged to Victoria, who was dressed in a light yellow dress with her short light blue hair blowing in the wind as she ran.

"V-victoria?" Evan stammered as Victoria ran up to him and hugged him, holding him tightly.

"You... you aren't really leaving... are you?" she asked him with wide, teary eyes.

"..." Evan couldn't bring himself to tell her the painful news.

Akito held back a sigh. This was one part of Evan he both liked and hated. He couldn't bring himself to hurt others in anyway. While it made him nice... it caused... misunderstandings.

"Y-you're seriously..." she gasped, letting go of him, "Evan!"

"I-I'm sorry... Victoria..."

"N-no... I should be sorry... I shouldn't have come here and make you feel guilty right before you left..." she sobbed.

"V-victoria..." Evan held her close, "I'm going to make a promise, okay?"

Akito smiled widely, _Finally... he's taking charge of something. Looks like I'm starting to get to him._

"Y-yes...?" she stared right into Evan's bright green eyes as his looked into her sky blue eyes.

"I promise you this: I'm going to go on this adventure and come back alive so I can tell you all about it." he said with an unbelievable amount of confidence.

"Y-you will?" she stammered.

"Yes, I will, Victoria." he smiled, showing teeth, "Now, I gotta get started so I'll have something to tell you!"

* * *

Akito stood off to the side, grinning as he left the two to make their promise.

_So, the kind, loveable young man and the roguish, rebellious young man go on an adventure_? he chuckled inwardly, _This is bound to be a fun experience._

_Dreams of mine, **PREPARE TO BE REALIZED!**_

* * *

They marched on through the hilly plains, stopping to take a small break whenever their legs got tired.

"Wow, this is a lot harder than I've read about!" Akito chuckled as he lay down.

"_Phew_," Evan wiped his forehead, "H-how far have we gone?"

"I think we're halfway to Henseys." Akito opened up his map, "Yeah, we are."

A branch snapped.

"What the hell is there?" Akito sprang to his feet, drill spear in hand, in a combat stance.

"I-i didn't hear a-anything..." Evan said, starting to get a little scared.

"Don't worry, Master! We'll work together!" Mir cheered.

"R-right!" Evan nodded, getting a boost of confidence.

"Show yourself!" Akito roared at the empty air.

His eyes widened as he saw rows upon rows of mushrooms walk up to them, all glaring at him.

"Oh. Shit." he growled, "Leave us alone."

"Akito!" Evan whispered, "T-these a-are those o-orange mushrooms that those posters warned up about!"

"Well alright then." Akito smiled, "I don't care about that! You may scare others, but you don't scare me! Have at you!"

He charged forward, stabbing multiple mushrooms on his death charge. As some tried to sneak attack him, he spun around, using the tip of the spear like the tip of a sword in order to cut them. He hadn't really learned to use the spear, but _something _in him just _knew _how to swing, stab, and whatnot with his spear.

Another jumped at him, but Akito merely punched him aside. _When did I get so strong with my fists?_

"Fool!" the mushrooms yelled, all piling on top of eachother, "Behold our might!"

"Did the reports say anything about this?" Akito hissed, backing away cautiously.

"N-no..." Evan stammered, stepping back.

"You shall no longer trespass into our domain!"

"Damn. Mushrooms becoming a giant entity combined. Guess you learn something new everyday." Akito shrugged, readying for a tough battle.

**[Music: Gattai Nante Kuso Karae]**

While he couldn't see it, the spiral pattern in his eyes started glowing from the center with a bright green as his drill began to spin, filling the air with a distinct _Whiiiiiir-_ing sound.

"A-akito! Your drill!" Evan pointed, mouth agape.

"Wow... that's cool." Akito said, trying to mask his shock rather well, "Well, I guess if it isn't your domain, it's not trespassing."

"What are you getting at?" the mushroom group, which Akito quickly mentally labeled it as 'Legion', asked.

"Well, if you're dead," his eyes flashed as the spiral pattern fully glowed, "It isn't your domain!"

Charging forward, Akito roared as Legion shot a mushroom stream at him, "COME AND GET IT!"

Legion's several pairs of eyes widened as Akito drilled through it.

"You won't end my dreams! I'll drill and bash through anything that dares to get in the way of my dreams!" he screamed. "And it's just starting to all come together!"

Legion growled, "Then come and fight for that dream!"

Akito twirled his spinning drill spear, blocking a double stream shot, causing Legion to begin rapid firing smaller mushrooms at him. Slicing and cutting through the multiple mushrooms at him, with Evan cleaning up any stragglers with some help from Mir, he slowly advanced towards Legion.

"Gah! Take this! Mega Mushroom Cannon!" Akito looked as Legion fired multiple mushrooms in all directions.

Quickly looking at the trees, he bounced off of them, dodging the flying mushrooms as they soared towards him.

"Finishing Strike!" Akito yelled as he tried to plunge the spear into Legion's face, "Tch!"

"HA!" Legion laughed as he blocked his drill with two hands, "It appears I-"

_BWOOSH_

A fireball shot into one of Legion's hands, causing him to stagger.

"Akito!" Evan yelled, "I got some new ability of some sorts, I'll help you!"

"Shoot it into the drill!" he smirked.

"Let's do this!" they said together as a fire ball hit the drill, causing the drill to ignite while still spinning. Legion was unable to take it anymore, and had his face drilled in by the fire drill.

As the rest of the drill tore through Legion, Akito watched as all the smaller mushrooms died. He gripped his arm in pain, though it wasn't much, it still hurt enough that he'd need some ice or a potion. There wasn't any blood though, and for that he was thankful.

"Um... Akito?" Evan tapped his pointer fingers together in what Akito thought might've been fear.

"Yes?" he tilted his head.

"I think we _may _have a-annoyed the r-rest of t-the population of Orange Mushrooms..." he looked around in paranoia, hearing more leaves rustling.

"Weeeeee~eeeel, FUCK." he grumbled, "Let's get to Henesys then."

* * *

**Evening**

"Screw off, mushrooms!" Akito hissed as he stabbed another Orange Mushroom with his drill, "You know, is it just me, or does my bag have infinite space or something?" he hissed as he leaned on his spear for some rest.

"I know, and then instant we touch something an enemy drops after it's killed and somehow just... disappears, it turns into sparkles and flies into our bag, and when we need something, it just comes out right away!" Evan sighed.

"Haaaahaaaa...haaaahaaaa... MAN! I _so _know what Gramps felt after his first foray into the world!" Akito cheered. "He left a book, a travel journal of sorts behind when he left for good after coming home for once. And DAMN, was he great. This... is the most GLORIOUS DAY OF MY LIFE!"

Akito and Evan locked eyes before exploding into laughter.

"But... I'm really tired." Evan yawned, "Hey! I can see Henesys!"

Akito's breath was taken, as it always was whenever he came, at the innovation and advancement of the town. The buildings with lighting and electricity, the paved streets and paths, the market place lined with vendors, the smells of different foods and-

Akito froze as he heard a bow's string be released. Rapidly.

"Evan. On me. Stay close. I hear fighting," Akito whispered as he ducked into the shadows, all of his fatigue replaced by worry for not only himself and Evan, but whoever might be under attack.

As the duo slowly made their way through the streets, Akito's eyes and ears open for the source of the combatants, it became apparent to him it must be some sort of assassin. Who else would be attacking at night time, or near night time, for that matter. The sun began to set faster, and the darkness soon became an irritant to Akito as he searched for the attacker.

* * *

"Ack!" the young woman grunted as she leapt over her attacker, but slightly mis-stepped, forcing her to roll, "It's not over."

"Of course. I'm looking forward to drawing out this battle." the black-hooded man smiled from underneath his hood.

"Damn you." she snarled, firing her dual bowguns at him.

"Too easy." he smirked, dodging.

* * *

_Damn it, _Akito grumbled mentally, _It's too dark here. I can't see shit._

"Evan, can Mir hear anything?"

"I'm not sure, Aniki. Mir?"

"I can only hear fighting, Master!" Mir smiled. Akito smiled inwardly too. Having something call Evan 'Master' must've been a nice boost to his self esteem, and Akito knew he'd need quite a lot, "But I can't tell where it's coming from... I'm sorry..."

"N-no! It's fine, Mir! At least we know we're not wrong about this."

It was nearly pitch black at this point, causing Akito to swear under his breath as they continued their search. He usually loved the size of the town, but at this point, he was wishing it was a whole lot smaller. And now that the normally orange roofs were made black with the lack of moonlight on the night of the new moon, and now, as Akito looked back on it, poorly arranged streetlights, it was even harder to see.

_Maybe I should concentrate on hearing... _he closed his eyes, _Heighten other sense while blocking out others..._

As he focused, the audible _Clang! _of a metal clash seemed to get louder and also revealed its location. Just a bit northeast of his position too, and they were getting close.

"Evan, let's go." Akito broke out into a sprint, his feet ignoring the sores of travel and now their clashing against the rough stones of the path. Dust flew up behind him as he ran through the poorly illuminated streets, his eyes now just beginning to come into focus in the deep darkness. He stopped just before the corner and peered around it.

_Gotcha. It's always the black-hooded man._ Akito smirked, readying his spear.

"So, you've declined over the years, haven't you- OOF!" the man in black grunted as Akito swung his spear into the man's skull _CRACK!_, "Hey, can't you- AGH!" Akito kicked the man in the face as he turned around, somehow making him disappear.

"Did I just break the laws of physics? Oh, right! Miss, are you alright-Oh crap!" Akito dodged the two arrows shot in his direction, "What gives? I was trying to save you!"

"Aniki! I saw someone attack you and- Don't shoot me!" Evan suddenly fell to his knees and put his hands up. He read a few of the books Akito had read and learned a few tricks from them as well, such as the 'standard' surrendering position.

"Yeah! Don't shoot Master!" Mir flew in behind Evan, wings flapping slowly, as he landed on Evan's head.

_A dragon? Is this boy..._ the young woman with blonde hair thought,_ I should ask... ah, I know!_

"Let me see your hand." she said sternly.

"Wha-" Evan was yanked forward, and saw his glowing hand again.

"So you are the new Dragon Master." It was more of a statement than a question, "Who is that?"

"He's my friend, Akito Lieri, an adventurer, who's with me." Evan explained, and Akito made a mental note to buy a notepad to mark the number of times Evan had showed some backbone on this adventure. He had a feeling he'd run out of paper. Or pen ink. Whichever came first, really.

"What type of adventurer?" she asked, eyeing his drill spear curiously. She had seen a few Spearmen and their high tiers, but their spears looked a lot... well, more suited for combat. This boy, or young man's spear looked more like a digging tool rather than a combat weapon.

"What's your name?" Akito asked, brushing off her question as he got up, "You know mine, it would be best if I knew yours." He knew he didn't really fall under the 'Adventurer' category. He was technically under the column of 'Beginner', as he hadn't visited a job trainer. He wasn't really planning on it anyways. All he wanted to do was explore the world.

"I am Mercedes." she said, "Queen of the Elves." She knew it would be safe to tell the new Dragon Master, and his friend didn't really show any signs of hostility.

"Elves?" Evan asked.

"Elves... were you not the race that faced the Black Mage seventy five years ago?"

"How do you know that?" Mercedes hissed at Akito.

"I read it in a really, really old book!" he raised his hands defensively, "Look, that's actually pretty cool. But who was the strange man?"

"Your Highness!" another person who looked similar to Mercedes burst out of the building, "I heard fighting and-"

"I dealt with it. This young man," she gestured at Akito, "assisted me. I have also found the next Dragon Master."

"Oh! Okay, I was worried for you!"

"It is fine, Athena." Mercedes smiled,_ She worries too much._

"Well, it was nice meeting you," Akito nodded, "I suppose we should be on our way to the inn, right Evan?"

"No. You will stay here. That man got away, and he will recognize you. We are not sure if any other agents are nearby, so you will be at danger." Mercedes said sternly.

"Er, who was that man anyway?" Akito wondered, looking around in paranoia.

"An agent of the Black Wings. They seek to possibly unseal the Black Mage." she explained, "I am working also to stop them."

"Holy..." Evan gasped.

"That's insane." Akito said in a completely emotionally devoid voice, "I can't even bear to _think _about how it would be if he did come back..."

"Athena, is there spare space in the Bowman Academy?" Mercedes decided to move on past the subject as she turned to her friend.

"Yes, your Highness." Athena bowed.

"How many times have I told you not to call me that? Just call me Mercedes," she turned towards the two boys, "Same goes for you two. I'm heading inside."

"I'm sorry if Mercedes comes off as cold," Athena said as soon she was out of earshot, "She's a very determined person... and her goals... I don't think I can tell you them now."

"It's no problem, Ms. Athena." Evan smiled, "I'm sure she has her reasons."

* * *

"So, whaddaya think of Mercedes?" Evan asked Akito as he set his backpack down.

"She's... a strong person. But her determination is both a strength and weakness."

"How so?"

"Strong determination is a good thing, you know that. Too much though... and you lose track of the collateral. What happens along the way. People with too much determination forget that ends don't always justify the means."

"Right..."

"Well, good night, Evan."

"Night, Aniki." Evan pulled his sheets up and fell asleep. Akito on the other hand waited until he heard snoring before he opened up a notebook he had brought along and began writing in it.

_Day One:_

_Today, we ventured past the farms and into the world. We took out 'Legion' which was made from many Orange Mushrooms combining. Physics was broken in multiple ways today, such as Evan's infinite space bag and the fact I managed to kick a man maybe into another dimension. Gah! Can't figure it out. Mercedes was eyeing me suspiciously, but I suppose that's fine since I'm no hero. Evan's also seemingly going to be a Dragon Master. That's awesome. Mah little bro's finally growing up... *sniff*... Okay, am I really writing actions like in a script on this entry? Man, this is gonna be a LONG journey. Note to self, buy more notebooks for entry keeping. Also buy note pad for tallying times when Evan shows some backbone._

_Another note to self: Buy craploads of pens. I have a feeling I'll run out of ink before paper... where have I heard that one before?_

* * *

Mercedes sighed as she lay down on her bed.

_Damnit,_ she cursed mentally, _I HATE this! Not only did I nearly lose, but that young man... Akito, was it? Yes, Akito, had to save me. I have to become stronger... for the sake of the Elves!_

She froze as she heard his voice again.

"...strong person." Were they talking about her? "...both strength and weakness."

"How..."

"...mination," Damn these remotely thick walls! "is a good thing. Too much... you lose track of... collateral... too much... mination... that ends don't always justify... means..."  
_WHAT?_ she held back the urge to go over there and strangle him. Then she felt disgusted at herself for feeling such as way. A Queen should be poised and collected, not someone who went into a murderous rampage from a few words. But still, how DARE he say she didn't know ends don't justify the means! She would have to question him tomorrow.

* * *

**Morning**

Mercedes stretched as she descended down the stairs, dressed in her normal white combat dress, and surveyed the scene. Evan seemed to be chatting it up with Athena, who was giggling and blushing. It partially scared her, since she had never seen Athena like that. It was very out of character for her... she'd probably ask her about it later.

"Cid?" she called out as she saw the familiar hairstyle sticking out from the cover of the book, "No, wait... it's not Cid..." she held back a few tears. It was very easy for her to move on back then, with the whole sealing of the village and whatnot to take her mind off of Cid.

Walking over to Evan and Athena, who quickly tried to bury herself in papers as she stealthily gestured at Mercedes, and quickly turned up the lighting so she could give an excuse for her blush. Mercedes smirked at her friend's behavior, and made a mental note to tease her mercilessly after this.

Meanwhile, Akito merely blinked as he watched the scene unfold. Then he turned his gaze back to his book.

"So, Athena, Evan. What were you guys talking about?" she flashed a smile that Evan returned, completely oblivious to what was going on. Athena tried to bury herself more into her work, "I mean, Athena, I haven't seen you as much as giggle as much as you did when Evan was talking to you. Also, Evan, did you know how old Athena is?"

"Actually, she just finished explaining that as well," he nodded, "But she does look quite young for her age... and she doesn't laugh that often? Huh, it's usually those who laugh a lot that tend to look younger when they reach the higher numbers. You must take really good care of yourself, miss Athena." he smiled.

Akito bit his tongue so he wouldn't snicker at how oblivious Evan was and how his words could be seen as 'flirty'. In a sense, anyways. While Akito did in fact know what love was, it was more on an intellectual sense. Anything that had to do with love and crushes was labeled under 'Psychology' to him. He didn't really know love in his life anyways.

"Well, I'll leave you two alone for now." she smiled, and turned towards Akito.

He was mumbling something as he took a pencil and wrote something in the book.

"Akito." Mercedes said in a sickeningly sweet voice, hands in front of her.

"Yes, Mercedes?" he said, putting his book and pencil down on the coffee table.

"May I speak to you outside?" her smile rivaled the Cheshire Cat.

"Uh-" he paused, not feeling comfortable with that smile on her face.

"That wasn't an actual question." she grabbed him his shirt and dragged him out.

"She's... not going to harm him, is she?" Evan asked nervously.

"I don't think Mercedes would do that." Athena noted, getting back to paperwork.

**(Outside)**

"I heard a very interesting thing through the wall yesterday." Mercedes hissed.

"Oh? Whoops, I talk too loud, eh?" Akito chuckled, "So, what did you hear?"

"Something about me not knowing ends don't always justify the means." she crossed her arms. _He's not even denying it._

"Oh, that. I didn't say that. I said that people with too much determination don't remember that. I never said you didn't." he shrugged, "I didn't mean for you to overhear it... No hard feelings?"

"Are you suggesting I have too much determination for my own good?" she cut to the chase.

"Not yet. But it would be wise to watch where you step. Take too many small steps off the path and its equal to taking a giant leap."

_He is an interesting person,_ Mercedes mused to herself, "Where are you two heading?"

"To be honest, we have no clue. We were just going to go around the world." Akito shrugged, "I think our thing was 'At crossroads, flip a coin. Heads left, tail right'."

"I have a proposal." she quickly tried to look into his eyes to find the spiral pattern that Cid had talked about... but he had already turned away to get Evan.

* * *

"Are you sure this is the way to Elluel?" Evan looked at the map over Mercedes' shoulder again, "I think-"

"YES! For the millionth time, YES! I know where we are going!" Mercedes snapped, _He's pretty young for an adventurer though... And I can't let them know I'm actually lost!_

_I think she's lost. _Akito mentally grumbled, before sighing, "...Sure." _ It's not like there's any point arguing with her._

"See, Evan? Akito agrees with me. Now, was it right or left...?" she wondered out loud before holding her hands in place before they went to her mouth to let her secret out.

Akito sighed again as she went left, "We could've flipped a coin."

"Yeah, like we originally planned." Evan shrugged, "Hey, we didn't see Horny Mushrooms here, originally."

"Whelp, looks like we've got another battle-"

_DAKKA DAKKA DAKKA!_

"WHAT THE SPIRAL?" Akito gasped at the arrows that had found themselves in the Mushroom's eyes, and said mushrooms were now bleeding out.

"There." Mercedes smirked at the boys' reactions._ Boys, so easy to impress. Then again he did say the same thing as Cid when he first saw me with my dual bowguns... And Freed actually fainted._

"Wow, that thing shot fast!" Evan and Mir gasped.

"Huh, I want to check the schematics on that thing. Automatic weapons, those haven't been seen in ages, let alone an automatic bowgun..." Akito mused to himself. He thought he had seen the most up to date technology at this point... but a bowgun that fired THAT quickly? He had to make a conscious effort not to faint.

"Let's keep going." Mercedes nodded at them, snapping her fingers in front of Akito so he would come back out of his catatonic state of shock.

"Right." Akito started walking again, shaking his head to refresh himself, "So, what are you doing exactly?"

_Damnit! I forgot to check his eyes! _Mercedes quickly scolded herself, _Gah! I need to make it so I don't look suspicious... but I noticed his dark blue eyes... they're so much like-_

"Hey, Mercedes? You're zoning out again..." Evan said, concern in his voice.

"Well to answer your question Akito, I'm trying to unfreeze the Elves, so we have to go back to check on them." she didn't miss a beat coming back from her journey into her mind.

"Didn't Ms. Pierce offer to teleport us back?" Akito tilted his head in curousity.

"But we have to train on the way back!" Mercedes snapped, "Now, this looks like the way..." _Please don't notice that this is the way that we went before..._

_Didn't I make a mark here? Exactly two inches down from the third branch off the ground... yeah... Yup, she's totally lost, in denial about it, and we're going in circles. **Brilliant.**_ Akito sighed, masking it as just being tired, "Hey, Mercedes, why don't we take a break?"

"Fine... but just this once." she huffed.

"Oh man..." Evan groaned as he keeled over from exhaustion, "Finally... my legs were giving out."

"Lucky you, I picked up some supplies and got my backpack enchanted so now it has infinite space like yours as well." Akito chuckled, "Here. Cheese, your favorite."

"Cheddar? You know me too well."

"So, what's your two's story?" Mercedes asked as she sat down.

"Well, Evan's a very good friend of mine," Akito smiled as he leaned back on a tree, "He's a farm kid. Almost like me. I got kicked off, er _ran off_ of mine because I wanted to pursue my dreams, but my old man wouldn't have it." he shook his head, "So I learned to live off the land. Any place I knew wasn't taken became a home for me. Sure, I'd come home to wish mom a happy birthday, with weeks worth of supplies used up to bake a cake. Uri's my brother who's a prick that gave into hunger and betrayed me. So he's essentially a weenie with no backbone because he's afraid that everything he wants will be taken away from him." Akito shrugged, "I think I'll let Evan tell his story now."

"Uh... I was a farm boy... then I went to rescue a piglet, but there was a hole that I fell into and found this weird foggy forest that had this HUGE onyx black dragon! And then it said something, but I don't remember because I was freaking out, and then when I came out back on top of the hill... I had this weird egg in my hand. A little later after putting it in an incubator, Mir came out. We've been together ever since. Then I met up with Aniki, Mir wanted to go on an adventure, and Aniki too, since he had been waiting for me to want to go."

"He was waiting for you to want to go?"

"I wouldn't leave Evan, my spiritual little brother, all alone, Mercedes." Akito sighed, "Besides, I figured I'd let Evan make his own choice on wanting to go before I did. That reminds me... Evan, you should keep a journal log like me, so you can tell Victoria all about your adventures when we finish exploring the world."

"Who's Victoria?" Mercedes inquired, "Oh, thank you, Cid- Er, Akito."

"Victoria's Evan's going-to-be girlfriend. They just realized their feelings when Evan wanted to go... But they did make a promise to meet up again. More importantly, why'd you call me Cid?"

"He was... an old friend who you reminded me of, both in appearance and personality. You'll have to forgive me if I accidently call you that." she quickly said, remembering not to add she loved him.

"I see. So he's like me, huh?" he used his drill spear to help himself up, "Wonder if he had a drill spear as well? Ah well, no time for that! Let's keep going on be lost!"

"Yup!" she forced a smile.

"Aha!" Akito pointed an accusational finger at her, "So you admit we're lost!"

"W-what?" she stammered, while still glaring at him.

"Aniki... that wasn't nice to trick her."

"Yes. It wasn't that nice." a slightly deeper voice came.

"Holy crap!" Akito spun around... to find a bigger and more mature Mir, "Did you just change appearance... or grow up a bit?"

"I believe so." Mir nodded, "I believe it has to do with our growth over time. I guess the change was very minor, because we didn't notice that until now!"

"Right..." Akito nodded, deciding not to pay much attention to it, but noting how his speech was slowly changing "Well, let's go!"

* * *

Several hours of wandering later, and the sun was full overhead as the trio went on. Akito had managed to talk Mercedes into breaks every two hours, which seemed reasonable enough.

From beaches to dark forests, Mercedes led them on, saying, "I know where I'm going!" if Akito ever raised any objections.

Soon they found themselves at a ancient temple looking area. Rock walls lined the area with vines and various mosses growing everywhere. Golems with red glowing eyes patrolled the area, as if there was something there to protect. Akito scanned the location, noting each and every rock that made up each golem. He took a quick look at his drill and smiled. After all, what was a drill meant to do to rocks...

Mercedes saw Akito smile, and it made her nervous. It wasn't a smile you like to see. It was smile people tend to _run the fuck away from._

The group made their way past the golems, sneak attacking them as they went along the most deserted paths, unsure of how strong they were.

"Ahhhh!" Evan dived out of the way along with Mir as a Rock Golem lunged at him from behind, their only blind spot, "Eat fire!"

_Damn! Should've had one of us checking behind! _Akito grumbled mentally before readying his drill spear.

"Eat this!" Mercedes began rapid firing on the golem.

"WAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHHH!" Akito roared as he rushed the golem.

"Agh! That idiot!" Mercedes snapped at him as he leapt forward at the attacking golem.

"Hyah!" Akito smashed the drill which magically spun into its chest, driving it in slowly, eliciting a roar of pain.

"Is he... killing it?" Evan motioned for Mir to stop shooting fireballs, as Mercedes stopped her fire.

"WAHAHAHAHA!" Akito let out a hearty laugh as he stood upon its rocky remains, "Now THAT is what I'm living for!"

"Wow. Just... wow." Evan gasped, "Well, I don't think this is the right way..."

"...Yes. I think I was wrong." Mercedes slipped in, hoping they wouldn't notice her confession, the bland ground suddenly catching her attention.

"Yeah, let's go-"

"**WOARGH!"**

"Akito..." Mercedes said nervously, looking around and seeing they were surrounded by golems of several ages, as they were multiple shades of grey along with various amounts of eyes, "I think you may have managed to aggravate the ENTIRE population of golems here... So if these things don't kill you... **_I will_.**"

_SHCK! Shck! Shck!_

"What was that?" Akito asked, resting his drill spear on his shoulder, "I have a bad feeling about this."

"Oh," Mercedes took out a notepad and put a tally mark in it.

"Huh?" Evan tilted his head in curiousity, "Is that penguins riding on surfboards of ice coming over the mountaing over there?"

Akito nodded, "Well, this got a whole lot more interesting."

"So, what's with the tally mark, Merc?" Mir asked.

"Merc?" she lifted an eyebrow.

"It's a cute nickname!" he grinned.

She couldn't help but indulge the small baby dragon, so she played along, "Okay. Anyway, this is the... seven hundredth and fifty eighth time King Pepe has tried to invade the Mushking Kingdom. Surprising, the last four hundred and eight times were sucessful, but a rebellion managed to rise back up."

"Damn," Akito let out a whistle, "So, are we going to do anything about it?"

"His troops are battle hardened. We are merely beginning to gain our skills. We shouldn't interfere unless we regain- Excuse me." she paused as a letter materialized in her hand, "Ah, Athena Pierce would to talk to me about Mushking Kingdom, after all, I did gain another set of abilities. So did you, Evan."

"Yeah..." he pointed at Akito, "So, Akito, what are you gonna do about-"

**_BWOOOOSH!_**

"Oh, he's flooding the valley with water. He's done that the past... seventy two times. Always works." Mercedes observed, "Well, we aren't getting there without a ship."

"Simple. Who has a ship?" Akito rolled his eyes. How hard could this be?

"Pirates. But they aren't exactly big on just lending out ships." Mercedes would carry on, but something seemed to flash in Akito's eyes. Something she did not like _one bit at all._

"Simple." he nodded, "We steal one." How did she know?

"But it's heavily guarded there! I've seen Nautilus Harbor before!"

"Simple. We sneak past all the guards."

"Do you have any idea how difficult that is?" Mercedes wasn't sure whether she was jealous of his carefree attitude or relieved she was a hell of a lot smarter than he was.

"Simple. I don't." Akito shrugged, "But I say we do this. After all, we're gonna help those guys! We gotta find a way to help them!"

"Hey, isn't that water heading our way?" Mir asked, tilting his head at the incoming water was it crashed and loomed closer with every wave, knocking over trees and swiping away the mushrooms that were unfortunate enough (which meant pretty much every mushroom) that got in the way of the waves.

"R-run!" Mercedes stammered, despite being frozen in place from shock.

"Can we even do so?" Akito looked around at the surrounding golems that were still glaring at them, or at least he thought they were glaring at him, "Oh hey, I forgot to mention to you guys," he smirked at the golems, "Did you know that water tends to erode stone?"

The golems immediately scattered upon Akito jerking a thumb towards the rushing water. Laughing as the golems ran (rather slowly anyways), he motioned for Evan and Mercedes to start climbing the temple pyramid as fast as they could. It was about four stories high, and Akito made solid progress as he skittered up, seeing potential climbing spots very quickly. Mentally cursing as he saw Mercedes grab a vine then suddenly be at the top of it the next second in a flash of yellow green light. He nearly lost focus as he saw Evan running up some stairs he had failed to see.

_Damn you life, why must you be so annoying at times? _Akito grumbled as he began to climb faster as the crashing of waves became louder. _Well, looks after this we'll be grabbing our ship. I should probably write this is my journal and OH CRAP WATER'S GETTING CLOSER!_

As he reached the top, he surveyed the scene. The water only came up to the second level, and the closest land point wasn't terribly far away. The only problem would be if they knew how to swim.

"U-uh... I'm not sure if this is a good time..." Mercedes stammered, "B-but I'm kinda a-afraid of getting i-in the water..."

"Really?" Akito asked in a completely innocent tone, "Or is it the fact you're wearing all white clothing that is rather see through when wet and- OW! The hell, Mercedes?"

"Pervert! Idiot! Pervert!"

"You already said that! Besides, I'm just pointing out a BASIC FACT! There's nothing perverted about that... but you thought there was! That makes you the pervert!" he pointed an accusatory finger at her.

"E-excuse me?" she gasped, her hands suddenly flew over her mouth, "H-how dare you!"

Evan sighed as he watched the two bicker. This was going to be a _long _journey, wasn't it? At least he'd have plenty to tell Victoria... if their arguing didn't take up most of it.

* * *

**And so it begins...**

**So, yeah. Whoope. Pirate Hero Akito/Idiot Hero Akito. For all his smarts he can be pretty dumb.**

**Anyway, send some feedback, reviews, and tell me what needs work on.**

**Sorry if the story felt kinda rushed, but I didn't want to have Evan and Akito running around on the farm for too long. And Mercedes sucks at reading maps. It's a joke between my friends that ****that's why she has that teleport skill.**

**And when Akito says, "Simple!", imagine Excalibur from Soul Eater saying, "Fools!"**

**Also, if you're wondering HOW they got to 30 so fast... Mercedes led them on for several hours, that's more than enough for them to get to level 30. So yeah.**

**Next time, we find out if the group will succeed!**

* * *

**Next time...**

"_Heeee~eeeey..._" A voice called.

"Who's there?" the red haired pirate instructor clenched her hand cannon tightly.

_"I kinda... oh I dunno, need to borrow the ship?_"

"Like hell you will! Show yourself!"

"_Okay! WHEEE~EEEEE!_" A boy with a drill spear burst from the ceiling, "Well, I'm _riiii~iiiight_ here!


	2. The Dragon Master's Mind

**Chapter 2: Metal Gear Akito**

**And I'm back. Finally, I was procrastinating on this one, and finally got it done!**

**Anyways, the title is sorta misleading. It's not all about, well you know what, I'll let you find out.**

**But let's just say Evan Character Development (I think so, anyways) is mostly the point of this chapter, I suppose.**

* * *

_This is a story of a young man who continues to go down his spiral path…_

_Previously, he overcame an assassin and rescued the Elven Queen Mercedes, who now accompanies both Akito and Evan in their adventure towards who knows where?_

* * *

"Why-" _Sploosh! _"Are-" _Sploosh! _"You-" _Sploosh! _"Doing-" _Sploosh! _"This?!" _Sploosh! _Akito screamed during the breathing chances he got as Mercedes dunked him underwater repeatively.

"Mercedes… I think you should stop…" Evan said shyly.

"Very well then. Thank Evan today, Akito, since you might've died if he wasn't here."

"Ack! Ack!" Akito pounded his chest and coughed up water, "Why?"

"For that perverted comment about white clothing!" Mercedes slapped him in the face again, smacking him to the ground, "How dare you make such a comment!"

"I didn't mean it that way, geez! It was a fact!"

"Hmph!" she turned away, refusing to look at him.

"Look, will it make it any better if I say that I'm sorry?"

"No, but I would appreciate it."

_FINALLY! _Evan mentally screamed. While he wasn't normally an impatient one, something inside him was just irritated about how they argued. He guessed he may or may not have to be the peacekeeper around them. If he would have to… this was going to be a _long _journey.

"Very well then. Mercedes, I am sorry for that comment I made even though I had no intention of it being perverted. Happy?"

"…Yes. Now, let's get going." she turned to Evan, "Ah, can you swim?"

"Yeah, don't ask me." Akito rolled his eyes, "Well, if you can't, I guess I can carry you."

"Oh, don't worry, Aniki. I remember what you taught me about swimming. What about you, Mercedes?" Evan smiled at the memory of swimming. It was always a pleasant experience when it came to learning how to swim. Akito had always taught him well, making sure he knew technique before speed so he could do both. Where he had learned swimming, he had no idea. Then again with all that reading that he did…

Then it crossed his mind: Why did mushrooms attack that time they went through? Wouldn't Akito have been used to dealing with them? Maybe he just ran through them all the others times? Eh, he'd never really know.

"I am well educated in the arts of swimming." she said eloquently, "Well, if we can all swim-"

"Seeya there!" Akito yelled, slinging his drill spear over his back and diving into the water, breaking into a very good freestyle.

"Hm… the sun isn't out today," Evan grinned, "I guess that means I can do a relaxing backstroke." He dived in after Akito, making a loud _Sploosh! _as he cannonballed into the water.

"Boys will be boys," Mercedes shrugged before diving in herself, going into a elegant butterfly.

As Akito soared through the blue crystal clear waters, stopping his freestyle to simply kicking, having fun as he barreled rolled and swam like a dolphin. Unlike land, water was where he could defy gravity a lot better.

"_Whluuuuuuuubeeee!" _he giggled mentally at the sounds he made underwater as they were distorted. Spiraling through the water, he took a second to look back and see Evan doing backstroke and Mercedes with her butterfly stroke. It would seem Evan was learning well with swimming, being not too far from him. Akito stopped for a quick second to bring his head up from the water and check where he was. He couldn't see the pyramid anymore, but he saw the town of Henesys far off in the distance. From there he'd look for a taxi that could take them to the port town known as Nautilus. After they sold what loot they had gotten anyways. Continuing his swim, keeping pace with the others as not to get too far and get everyone lost, the group arrived, soaking wet, in Henesys after a short while.

"Finally!" Mercedes gasped for air, "That was a long swim!"

"Your fault for doing butterfly," Akito sighed, "That's known as the most exhausting stroke there is!"

"Shut up!"

"Oh, bro, you alright?" Akito quickly turned to Evan, who was smiling.

"No Aniki, it was rather relaxing for me. I wish we can do this some other time again." he said, his grin widening with each word. At least two of them had some fun with this.

"Mercedes! Akito! E-evan!" Athena called for the trio, seeing them soaked, "Oh my! All of you, quickly, get inside the Academy. I'll find some towels for you, after all, you don't want to catch a cold! Quickly, quickly!" she ushered their soaking selves into the Academy.

* * *

"Ah," Akito sighed blissfully as he put on his dried clothes, "Thank goodness for furnace drying."

"Your lucky your clothes didn't catch fire." Mercedes said coldly.

"Yes. Yes I am." he said, "Geez, who spit in your soup anyways?"

"Oh shut up."

Off to the side, Evan, Athena, and Mir were watching the two bicker, with Evan looking down at his philosophy book (which was very educating and seemed to be helping his insight) every now and then.

"It's just like watching a newly dating couple." Athena remarked.

"That's what I was going to say!" Evan smiled at her, causing Athena to blush, "All they do is argue all day. I think the most amount of peace we've gotten is when they're both eating, because they can't argue with their mouths full."

"What about afterwards?"

"Oh, Mercedes then goes on about how Akito eats like a pig, and then it goes from there." Evan sighed, "Is she usually like that?"

"No, not really." Athena shook her head, "Is there something he did to set her off?"

"It's nothing major or anything for an argument. If they can have one, it just starts." Evan explained.

"I think Mercedes likes him, I mean-" Mir started.

"YOU SAY WHAT?!" Akito and Mercedes screamed at hearing Mir's comment.

"WHY THE HELL WOULD I LIKE HIM?!"

"JUST WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM?! I WOULDN'T LIKE HER!"

Evan would normally make a note in his mind to play a guessing game about who said which phrase. Most people thought he was a shy boy but in his mind… there was so much more going on in his mind. More than he let on about. It was really that he just was afraid of hurting others so he kept everything bottled up in his head. Most people would say it was unhealthy but it allowed Evan a small bit of sanity in his life.

"_Ahahaha!" _Athena giggled, "You know, denial isn't just a river in-"

"Okay we've all heard that one before," Akito interjected.

"I haven't! Tell me, how does it-" Mercedes raised her hand politely as if asking a question in school.

"What?! How have you not?!" Akito yelled.

"Well excuse me, _pervert_-"

"How the hell does this have to do with being perverted?! If anything, you're the pervert for thinking so!"

"How dare you accuse me of such a thing!"

"See what I mean?" Evan asked, pointing towards the arguing duo.

"I don't see how you put up with it," Athena said. In her mind, he'd have to be a very emotionally stable boy (not that he wasn't) to put up with all of this and still maintain a smiling and innocent face. He was one heck of an optimist, that was for sure.

"It's not much, besides, I learn new things from them what not. It's a nice way of… how did Aniki put it? Ah, 'A way of learning how others see life in general'."

"Who is 'Aniki'?" Athena asked. Evan often said that word, and it was driving her to insanity trying to figure out who it was. She had an irking is was Akito, which was very likely. But the reason why he did was still an unsolved mystery.

"Oh! It's Akito. I can't really say he's my 'brother', but he said Aniki also means that, and it's almost like his name, so I find it easy to call him that. Even though we're not related, he still says we're spiritual brothers, and we'll never be apart. I truly believe in that, so I'm going to get stronger so Aniki won't always have to defend me! My dream is to one day actually defend him for once… I owe him a lot."

Something about it just was purely heartwarming to Athena, how this young boy had big dreams that came from his caring (if not also idiotic, but it didn't matter) brother.

"Wow! That's a nice dream…" she said dreamily. To be free and go wherever, not limited by anyone or anything… she gave up that dream when she became a job instructor.

"What's your dream, Athena?" Evan asked with that _damned _smile of his that could melt anyone's heart.

"It is… it _was _to be free of anyone or anything."

"What do you mean 'it was'?" he tilted his head in confusion.

"I… had to give that up in order to become a job instructor."

"Oh… I'm sorry…" Evan stared at the ground, "But… maybe you can dream of something else?"

"Something else?"

"You're a teacher, right?" Evan asked, "Well, maybe you can dream of having all your students smile! I mean, the world would a much happier place if people made other people smile- _ahem!_" Evan coughed, "So… yeah! That should be your dream!"

So innocent… so pure… Athena couldn't help but smile ear to ear. Every lonely day at the Academy with paperwork and paperwork, every day regretting how she didn't go out into the world and explore, every day full of impatience and torment… and it was gone in a flash at those simple words.

Now everyday would be for a purpose, a reason, a _resolve _to keep going on through the day.

_Where had this boy been all this time…? _she asked. Was this fate, the fact that he had decided to venture with Akito that day, encounter and defeat the assassin and make friends (more like 'allies', if you asked Akito), and all the other things that happened. Was it fate?

"Athena? Are you alright… my God! Look at the time! It's getting late! You must go to sleep! I'm so sorry, so sorry that you had to stay up late taking care of us!"

"I-I'm fine… just deep in thought. Thank you for the concern."

"Awww, that's sweet of you, Master!" Mir chimed in, "Master is a very kind person!"

"M-mir… please don't refer to me as such… we're friends. I don't own you, so… we're equal." Evan sighed, "Besides, I don't really deserve such a title."

_So humble, so innocent, so pure! _Athena giggled inside, _Oooh, if only I had met him before that Victoria girl he had told me about. But I suppose I shouldn't get in the way of love! Haha!_

"Hey, isn't it a bit too quiet?" Mir asked.

"Huh… they stopped arguing." Evan looked around the lounge trying to find the normally arguing duo.

"No! Why the _fucking hell _would I let you look into my eyes?!" Akito's voice came over from the next room.

"_**What." **_Athena, Mir, and Evan said flatly. Athena's jaw hit the ground first, and Evan went into a mini-coma, but quickly recovered when the force of his jaw hitting the ground (if it was even possible. That's what the impact felt like, at the least) shook him out of it. Mir on the other hand, instead of a cheery voice, was completely silent.

"I just need to look for something in them!"

"Like what? _Your reflection?_" Akito's voice came out as a sneer, "Seriously, you treat me like garbage and suddenly your acting so nice! What the hell is up with you?!"

"J-just shut up!" Mercedes' stomps were loud even from a distance away.

"They need something as an outlet, I suppose." Evan shrugged, "Huh, I guess my mind link with Mir's letting me get smarter. Anyways, is there somewhere they can just duke it out or whatnot?"

"Well, it was just finished, actually! We just got the place built and enchanted so that people can duel eachother and test their skills without actually inflicting pain on each other, but the magic lets them feel the pain. It's a hundred percent safe though."

"Hmm… that just might work. Maybe if we let them fight right now, they'll be too tired tomorrow to argue…" Evan smiled, "I'll go get Aniki!"

"I'll grab Mercedes," Athena nodded, with the two splitting off to find their respective person.

* * *

Akito cracked his knuckles as he prepared to face off against Mercedes, who was checking her bowguns. Giving his spear a good twirl, he smiled his general creepy smile that still unnerved Mercedes when she glanced at it.

"One last chance, surrender and I'll forget about this." Mercedes tried to sound calm even as she stared head on at Akito's terrifying smile.

"Not yours to give, I'm afraid. Let's dance-"

"I'll lead," they said together, "HEY! THAT'S MY LINE!"

"Alright, fuck this." Akito said, "Let's GO! LEEERRROOOOOYYYYYYY-"

_Shck! Shck! _Mercedes began firing crazily at him, but Akito brought up his drill spear, using the drill on the end as a shield. Rushing forward, he quickly closed the distance between them, forcing Mercedes to stop shooting and move, but Akito caught her wrist and spun around, then threw her to the ground.

"Ugh! That was a dirty move!"

"That was a horrible pun," Akito sighed.

"The hell are you talking about?!" Mercedes grumbled.

"Your clothes are covered in mud now." Akito said, devoid of all emotion.

"W-what?!" she looked down, and her eyes widened in horror, then contracted in rage, "_Those were my fucking favorite clothes."_

"So what?"

"_Your gonna pay, you asshole._" her eyes began to glow, "Besides, you're not the only one who can rush."

"Wait, wha-" Akito tried to guard as Mercedes dashed at him and launched him up, then began shooting at him, "Damn!"

"Ha- OW!" in her brief moment of hubris she didn't notice Akito coming back down and smashing the drill on her head, "That hurt!"

"So what! Getting shot in the air a few times does as well!" Akito screamed back before blocking her rush attack (which she had mumbled something about it being called Rising Rush), preventing her from throwing him up in the air. He quickly countered with a punch to her face, which launched her back as she was off balance from the block.

"Ooooh, that so does it!" Mercedes' eyes flashed before she began shooting her bowguns, unfortunately for Akito, twice as fast.

"What the FUCK?! How do you even DO THAT?!" he asked as he dived behind a rock and did some quick planning. _Okay, time to rush her head on… No looking back! _"HYAAAAAAGGHHHH!" His eyes lit up green with the spiral pattern as the drill began to spin, flicking aside the crossbow bolts (which Akito noticed were glowing) as if they were mere flies. "TAKE THIS!"

"Not before this!" she screamed back before her eyes began to glow again, and Akito felt his steps becoming more tiring as the barrage of arrows seemed to hit a lot harder. His rush however, wasn't stopped as he drew energy from his determination to keep moving forward, once again closing the distance between the two.

"_Hyyyyyaaaaaaahhhhh!" _they yelled as Mercedes poured all her magical energy into the arrows she was shooting while Akito's drill began to spin faster and faster , and if one looked closely enough, his drill was slowly getting bigger, even if it wasn't noticeable.

The resulting explosion filled the room with plenty of smoke, and when it cleared, Akito and Mercedes were lying on the ground next to eachother, gasping for air.

"W-why did it explode? What happened?"

"Everything… is better… with random explosions… I suppose…" Akito forced out between heavy inhales, "T-truce? For now… Until…"

"We… wake up…" Mercedes finished, falling asleep next to Akito.

"Do we have a camera?! Take a picture!" Mir whispered.

"My God! You're right!" Athena gasped, "Ooh, this might prove to be useful later on to you, Evan!"

"No thanks," he shook his head, "I don't like methods like that. I believe in honesty… but _just _this once, I suppose I can let it slide," he finished with an evil grin on his face as Athena handed him a camera.

* * *

**(Next Day)**

"Alright, we're off! Thanks Ms. Athena!" Akito waved goodbye as he looked around for a taxi.

"Thank you so much, Athena. It's been a pleasure with you." Mercedes gave a small wave and smiled as she followed him.

"May we meet again, Athena." Evan smiled at her, then whispered, "I'll take more pictures and show them when I get back."

"_Snrk!_" Athena giggled. She had to hand it to Mercedes, finding these two (mostly Evan though) had allowed her to start living life to the fullest again. She recalled something that Evan told her as he waved goodbye to follow the others. He had told her that his Aniki once said that it's not enough to just go through the motions of living _unless _they're your own motions. Holding her hands over her heart, Athena made a mental promise to stay true to those words.

"Thank you… Evan."

* * *

As Evan stepped into the taxi, he couldn't help but feel there was supposed to be glass cracking and a voice yelling something about maxing out… something. He dismissed it as nothing however, as he closed the door and the trio went off to travel to Nautilus.

* * *

It was a little while later that they arrived, Akito paying for the taxi ride (with him adding it would be Mercedes next), in the port town of Nautilus.

"Wow! The sea breeze… it's quite soothing!" Mercedes said, taking a large whiff, "Ahhhh, that's nice."

"The smell of adventure on the infinite seas!" Akito closed his eyes in and stood silently in a brief moment of respect, which confused Mercedes, "Ah, the many that have dedicated and given their lives so that others may have a chance to cross these seas."

"Wow Aniki, that's very… uh, poetic! Yeah, that's the word." Evan smiled sheepishly, "Sorry, I learned a bunch of stuff from the books Athena had and it's still taking a short while to process."

"Damn Evan, you're getting pretty smart. I don't think I could get as smart as you," Akito chuckled, "Anyways, I see the ship I want." He pointed towards the _largest and most heavily armed ship _in the entire harbor.

"That's the Nautilus! Are you crazy?!" Mercedes whispered harshly, "That's the ship of one of the pirate job instructors! You're _insane!_ It's going to be heavily guarded and you'll _die _if you get caught!"

"Simple! I _don't _get caught," Akito flashed his 'Let's Get Dangerous' smile, "Besides, have a little faith in me." He began walking casually towards the Nautilus, the wooden planks creaking as he took each step closer _to his doom_.

"That's it, I'm stopping this." Mercedes looked around, checking for witnesses before she quickly shot Akito once in the foot.

"Shit!" he snarled, grabbing his foot and hopping on one leg-

"Phew," Mercedes went over to grab him.

-then he fell over the side, right into some huge crates that were on a smaller boat. Huge enough that his drill spear could fit into it. To Mercedes' horror, said boat _was heading for the Nautilus_. Akito had been fully hidden in one of the crates, and now he was going to make it onto the ship. The lid of the crate had been sitting straight up, and the impact had caused the lid to close itself, giving Akito a good hiding spot.

"Nice going, Merc!" Mir cheered.

"I don't need your sarcasm," she said darkly.

"I'm not being sa-ar-caus-tic?" he pronouced, "You helped Master's friend do what he wanted!"

Mercedes sighed as she realized the small dragon was serious, "Well, hopefully he'll get caught and he can explain everything."

* * *

**_Meanwhile…_**

* * *

Akito held his breath as he felt the forces of the workers outside the safety of the barrel lift him up and put him somewhere.

"Hey, didn't that last one seem a lot heavier?"

Akito's mind began to race, _Ohshitohshitohshit! _He closed his eyes and took a small breath, hoping they wouldn't come over to check on his barrel.

"Eh, maybe it's just because we're getting tired. They _are _really big crates."

"Yeah, I'll give you that. They're big enough that you could fit a few people into it. But what the hell are we even putting into these things?"

"Eh, I think the last few ones were bags of flour. Heard Kyrin hired a baker so we don't have to eat fish all the damn time."

"Finally! Anyways, one more crate and we're done."

"I know," Akito flinched as the sound of another crate being dropped next to his shook the crate he was in, "Alright, we're done here. Let's grab something to eat."

Closing his eyes, he listened for where the door was opened. _Bingo_, Akito smirked as he slid the strap for his drill spear off of himself and began rotating it in the direction where he heard the door open. Peeping in the small hole he made, he found the light of the room blinding, but quickly adapted as he pounded his way out of the box.

"Alright…" he looked around, seeing the wooden insides, "Heh, it looks very technological with all the metal on the outside, but… it's some homey inside." He noticed a window and saw fishes outside, "Whoa! It's not just a ship… it goes underwater… wow…" Akito froze as he heard footsteps coming closer, "Shit! I have to concentrate on my plan!" Quickly going over to the door, he reached for the handle and shoved the door open as hard as he could.

"Oof!" he heard a voice as the door met a bit of resistance. Had Akito bothered to look, he would've seen an unconscious guard on the ground.

Casually walking down the hallway, he found a guard with his back facing towards Akito. _Okay, what was that technique I learned? Oh, right! _Tiptoeing right behind the guard, Akito reached out a hand and pinched around the base of the guard's neck.

"Ah, no, no," the guard chuckled, "Just a little lowe-" He collapsed as Akito adjusted his hand's position.

Kyrin, Job Instructor for new Pirates, gasped as she turned to the surveillance cameras and saw the intruder. Rewinding the footage, she listened to the guard's last words before he fell.

"_Just a little lowe-" _Crunch! The body hit the ground.

"Damnit, I need to hire better guards. But let's see what this guy wants…"

"Alright, luckily they post signs on where to go," Akito swung his spear around to awaken his arm which was getting a bit numb, knocking out another guard without his knowledge, "Huh, it's getting hard to swing this thing. I'll have to train a little harder."

Calmly walking down the hall, Akito hummed a relaxing tune to himself as he ascended the stairs up to the next floor, when he spotted an open door, and with his curiosity piqued, entered the room.

"Ha, just a normal- Oh shit!" Akito yelled as the floor gave way. Landing in a giant bundle of wires that broke his fall, Akito looked for a way out as he tested out if he could walk on them. Noticing a vent, he smiled as he drilled his way in.

Of course, as he swung his drill spear over his shoulder, he didn't realize as he cut and broke a few wires… which happened to be the ones for the power supply. Being in the vents, he didn't notice the blackened hallways as he climbed his way through the vents.

"Damnit! How did this happen?!" Kyrin growled, "How did he know which cables were for our power?! That's it…" She grabbed her megaphone and opened the bridge door and yelled, "ALL CREW TO THE BRIDGE! ON THE DOUBLE!"

_Damn! _Akito shook his head, _Who's screaming?! It hurts A LOT! That's it, someone's getting a serious asskicking!_

Climbing up another service ladder to reach the highest floor, Akito peered through a vent cover and saw a face in candlelight. A rather beautiful face he did say so himself. A redhead with a flowing red coat to match her hair along with a pirate hat that made it seem like she was the leader.

_Well, let's do this. _Akito smirked, _"Heeeee~eeeey."_

"Who's there?" the redheaded pirate asked, readying her hand cannon.

"_I kinda, I dunno… need to borrow the ship?" _Akito went for his peaceful negotiations… not that he expected them to work or anything…

"Like hell you will!" Akito bit back a swear as he peaceful attempts failed, "Show yourself!"

"_Alright then."_ Akito dropped down,_ "I'm right here. Now-"_

"_Get him, boys." Kyrin smirked as several candles were lit, illuminating the room, along with the window shades being opened, which lit the room completely, revealing all the pirates around him._

"_Well… fuck." _Akito sneered, readying his spear_, "Let's dance."_


	3. Training FROM HELL!

**MapleStory: The Spiral Path, Chapter THREE!**

**Akito: *ahem***

**Huh? What is it now?**

**Mercedes: Someone forgot something last time.**

**The hell are you- Oh, right, the disclaimer I think. Anyways, yeah, I don't own anything except for original content like Akito. And I AM aware there is no CANON pirate hero. But I still like Cid better, because Pirates are my favorite type.**

**Just so you know when it's FLASHBACK TIME, it will be told on third person. I'm trying to avoid the whole POV switch in middle of chapter, and while it may seem odd, I implore you to deal with it. Please, for the sake of this *SACKED***

**Akito: I'm sorry, the author who has terrible acting skills has just been sacked- *SACKED***

**Mercedes: I'm sorry, the guy who tells you that the author who has terrible acting skills- Okay, are we really ripping off Monty Python **_**already**_**?**

**Shut up. Here, just say these two words.**

**Mercedes: Candle Jack? What the hell does th**

**Alright, let's find out what happened to Akito! Finally, some peace and quiet! This chapter is a bit short, but trust me, next chapter is gonna be pretty long.**

* * *

**Nautilus Bridge**

"Damnit!" Akito ducked underneath another punch and tripped his attacker, "Probably shouldn't have taunted like that."

"My crew can keep this up all day." Kyrin remarked offhandedly, sending some pirates to go fix the lights, "But the real question is… can you?"

"Shut-" Block punch, "UP!" Akito roared as he kneed another pirate in the groin, causing said pirate to keel over in pain, "Why the hell don't you fight yourself you damn coward?"

"Perhaps I will." Kyrin sighed as she leveled her cannon at him, "Such a shame. Thought you would've lasted longer. Goodbye." She met Akito's ice cold gaze as she pulled the trigger.

_Boom!_

"Not today, I'm afraid." Akito brought out his drill spear, and as it began to spin as his eyes glowed, it tore through the cannonball launched at him, spraying shrapnel everywhere, "Next time, don't underestimate your opponents." He swept his drill spear along the ground, tripping up three pirates at once, "BECAUSE I AM AKITO LIERI, SPIRAL WARRIOR, AND I WILL NOT FALL TO THE LIKES OF YOU!"

However, due to his prideful moment and the fact he was already _severely _outmatched, he was taken down three seconds after his war cry.

* * *

**I'm afraid this is the end of the story guys. Sorry! Yup, he's dead now.**

**So, Akito's gone, and the Pirate Hero is lost. Looks like the Five Heroes won't come back to save the world.**

**Well, it was a good, if short run, I suppose.**

**Have a good day!**

**Oh who the FUCK am I kidding?**

**Let's get on with this story.**

* * *

"Ugh… You assholes! I was in the middle of my epic speech!" Akito growled, struggling against the tied up bonds he was now in, "And besides, I'm not into this kind of crap!"

"Really?" Kyrin asked, "Also, don't bother trying to sit up or anything. Those ropes are fairly strong, and you can't reach the knots from where you are."

"Gee, thanks for telling me." Akito rolled his eyes, "Now, since I'm obviously not going to be borrowing this ship, can I be let go?"

"…Why would we let you go? First of, why did you even sneak onto this ship?"

"…There are two reasons. The _official _one I told my friends and my own personal reason." Akito sighed, realizing there probably wasn't any way out of this besides saying what his reasons were.

"Let's hear 'em." Kyrin crossed her arms, emphasizing her… _assets _which were often used in interrogation which would usually get the men to tell her things.

However, this IS Akito we are talking about, and all he did was roll his eyes the other way and mumble something about maintaining purity. After mumbling a short sanity mantra that went a little something like, "I must remain pure," he closed his eyes and explained.

"Well, the reason I wanted this ship was because it looked the most awesome and intimidating, so I'd take me and my friends after I finished jacking the ship to Mushking Kingdom and liberate them because the plains have been flooded."

"Are… you serious about that?" Kyrin arched an eyebrow.

"And… the other reason is that I was seriously bored. I mean, stuck in the damn taxi cab with Mercedes yapping on about who-gives-a-damn things REALLY drains your sanity. I was just looking for something to alleviate my boredom, and well, sneaking onto a ship where you're pretty sure you're dead if you're caught is a great way to get rid of said boredom. I'm sure you won't believe me, but it's absolutely true."

After Akito finished, she sat silently for about a minute.

Then she began to laugh, and it started echoing through the bustling hallways. The other pirates thought either that kid they had captured had either done something that really pleased Kyrin, or really pissed her off and now she would be doing something horrid to him. It was a really creepy laugh to hear in the middle of the day, after all.

About another minute later, Akito finally gave into the urge to laugh with her as well.

"Boys, get in here. I think we have a _awesome _pirate in the making!" she yelled.

* * *

**Meanwhile (thousands of miles away!), after some time passed**

Mercedes shut another book as she finished it, also letting out a heavy sigh.

"How long has it been?" she asked Evan.

"Mercedes, it's been a week." Evan said, exasperated.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you like him!" Mir cheered rather silently. Being in a library tends to make those who are normally loud silent, but they find ways. _They always do._

"S-shut up!" she whispered harshly, "I already told you I don't!"

"Heehee! Merc's getting embarassed!" Mir teased, causing Mercedes to simply let her head smack the desk she was sitting at. Why did Mir have to tease her about this?

"I'm going to get some air." she got up and put her book away, leaving a rather excited Evan, who was in the middle of an action novel about the future where robots have taken over and a time traveling hero who stops them and a smug Mir.

_Stupid Akito_, she grumbled as she left, _Thing is, it's all my fault! If I hadn't shot his foot he wouldn't have fallen into- What am I saying?! This is all his fault! If he hadn't decided to be stupid and think about even hijacking a pirate's ship, let alone the most armored one, then we wouldn't be in this mess!_

She thought back to the days of before, when she was still traveling with Cid. They were the first together before any of the others ever joined, and they might've hooked up, but he had to do what he had to do to save the world he apparently loved over her. A noble decision, but a heartbreaking one never the less. While it had been easy for her to overcome his death due to the fact her village was at the time _freezing over_, now all that she had been pushing out of the way was coming back to haunt her.

She could still remember their first meeting…

* * *

_Flashback!_

Mercedes spotted a rather young man with black hair in trouble with a few Slimes. His weapon of choice was interesting. It looked more like a tool than a weapon, but it looked to be working right now. Until the Slimes started surrounding him at least.

It was then she realized that the drill on his spear began to spin as his eyes also began to glow.

This was, of course, when he had no trouble destroying the Slimes.

"_IRASSHAIMASE!" _he roared, "Oh fuck me with a br-"

However, one can handle only oh so many Slimes before you can't start swinging a drill spear at all of them.

"Damn!" Mercedes cursed, dashing towards him, drawing out her dual bowguns, opening fire on the attacking Slimes. It took a short while, but after her assistance a drill burst forth from the pile of slimes. All the rest of the slimes were destroyed within a few seconds once the two began working together.

_End Flashback!_

* * *

Mercedes didn't know it, but she was smiling at the memories. Maybe it was how Cid used to always be under her was what she liked. She _did _feel a little bit of her liking of him diminish when he started to surpass her…

Was that the only reason she ever liked him? The fact he had always submitted to her?

_No, no! _She told herself, _No, I really did love him! I never loved him because he was submissive towards me because he depended on me! It was… real!_

Now she was pissed. If _Akito _hadn't been so _stupid, _she wouldn't be having this crisis! It was always his fault now! Everything he did always got them into trouble! Even Phantom back then wasn't as annoying with how he always talked like he was in a play!

_Ugh, this is so frustrating! And the fact he looks so damn much like Cid doesn't help! You know, what, screw this! The least I can do is TRY to get along with him… I don't want to have my memories of Cid tarnished by someone who just looks a lot like him and acts a lot like he did later on… I'll save these thoughts for later._

She shoved the last five to ten minutes of thinking out of her head into the mental incinerator, lit a match and threw it into said incinerator. Then for good measure she turned the incinerator on. For three minutes.

Anyways, the thoughts of the last ten minutes were absolutely gone and she was in a great mood.

Then she saw a sight that was not a pleasant one, which made her run into the Library and drag Evan out.

The sight in question?

_**Akito **_dressed with a flowing black coat with a golden trim, black leather pants and a white dress shirt that seemed to fit with the rest of his outfit.

And the _real _kicker was the hand cannon strapped across his back. Of course, his drill spear was still in his hands, as it always was.

"No. Just no." Mercedes grumbled, "What the fuck happened over the last week?"

"Whoa! He looks awesome!" Mir and Evan gasped, running over to him, "Aniki!"

"Ah? Oh, hey! What's up Evan? Guess who's a new Cannoneer? With whatever the hell 'second job advance skills' are!" Akito chuckled as a monkey leapt from the ship and landed on his shoulder, "Oh yeah, you might want to meet Seva! By the way, where's Mercedes?"

"Um… hello…" she eyed his monkey with caution. She had… a bit of a bad run in with monkeys beforehand. Living in a forest doesn't help.

"Oh hey there Mercedes!" Akito smiled, "Oh don't worry, he doesn't bite! Go on Seva, say hello!"

The monkey let out a few noises, which Mir nodded to, seeming to understand.

"So Mir understands him? Awesome!" Akito cheered.

"But wouldn't dragons be unable to understand monkey-"

"No objections!" he cut off Mercedes, who was the only one that wasn't admiring Akito's shiny new cannon or clothes, "But hey, I secured ourselves a way to the Mushking Kingdom! We're gonna liberate that place! However, since you're all probably so confused, I'm going to tell you all the stuff that happened over the week!"

* * *

_Flashback time!_

_Anyways, it all started after I was interrogated by Kyrin on why EXACTLY I snuck upon the Nautilus._

"Wait, what do you mean 'pirate in the making'?" Akito asked, utterly confused.

"Kid, don't you know the number one rule of pirates? It's to have fun!" Kyrin said with a smile that was even more confusing the Akito since she was just about one step short from being dead serious literally three seconds ago, "If you thought trying to hijack this ship would be fun, I can't even begin to _think _about all the stuff you'd find fun as well!"

"So…" he started as Kyrin undid the ropes tying him down, "How did you end up joining the pirates then?"

"Same way as you, ki- What's your name?"

"Akito. Akito Lieri. I thought I screamed that right before I got taken down." Akito said as he stretched.

"Well, I'm sure you'll make a good pirate! After all, you're gonna have a lot of fun!" Kyrin chuckled.

* * *

_And so began my training… FROM HELL- Damnit Mercedes why did you try to punch me! I'm trying to EPIC and FUNNY here! What the hell do you mean I'm not being funny? Shut up! Every person knows that if you add 'FROM HELL' at the end of just some normal action it makes it funny! Stop denying it! Ahem!_

Akito ducked again as another cannonball went for his face, "WHY ARE WE SHOOTING AT-" Matrix dodge! "ME?!"

"You'll have to be fast, FASTER if you want to be mobile with a cannon, now run, boy, RUN!" Kyrin cackled as she continued shooting at him, faster this time, however.

"Oh what the hell was in her coffee?" Akito grumbled as he jumped, avoiding a shot to his foot.

"Coffee? What's that?" Kyrin asked as Akito dived to dodge another.

"…Never mind. It'samiserablepileofsecrets!" he quickly added as Kyrin shot ahead, behind, and at his feet.

"There, see how much easier it is when you're honest?"

* * *

_Don't even get me started on the shooting… FRO- Stop shooting at me!_

"Damnit Akito, how is your aim so terrible?!" Kyrin asked as he missed the target… again. For the three hundred and seventy third time. Kyrin had been keeping count.

"I'm not used to shooting!" he complained.

_Don't you mean whined? _

_Shut up Mercedes! _

"Besides this thing is HEAVY!" Trying to line up his target to the best of his abilities, he pulled the trigger.

_**BOOM!**_

"Holy crap I hit the target! Hell y-" Akito didn't notice where his fingers were.

_**BOOM!**_

"Akito…"

Akito turned around to find a hole in Kyrin's hat, still smoldering.

"Fuck me with a br-"

* * *

_Oh, and don't even get me started on the flying!_

_Flying, Aniki?_

_Yeah, it's like flying lessons… FROM HELL! Oh shit! HA! YOU MISSED MERCEDES!_

_Damn you! Come back here!_

_Wait! Let me finish!_

"It's so simple! Just jump in the air and then pull the trigger!" Kyrin slammed her head into a wall at how difficult this was for Akito. Everyone else seemed to be able to pull this off pretty well.

"Jump and HOLY CRAAAAAAAP!" he screamed as he flew through the air uncontrollably, crashing into Kyrin, "Ugh… what happened…?" Pushing himself up, he neglected where his hands were going when they pushed on something rather _soft_.

"O-oh, Akito… if you wanted to, you could've just said so…" Kyrin gushed, blushing madly.

"Eh? What are you- HOLY SHIT MY GOODNESS I'M SO SORRY!" Jumping off, he shot the cannon, flying far back away from Kyrin before she could embrace him. While Kyrinn was disappointed, she was happy that Akito had somehow mastered the technique in an instant.

Fear is a great motivator.

* * *

_Did that really happen, Aniki? And Mercedes, why do you look so angry?_

_I told you, Master, it's because-_

_SHUT UP, MIR! NO ONE WAS TALKING TO YOU!_

_Waaa~aaah! Akito, Mercedes is being mean to me!_

_Mercedes! How could you! Mir's such an innocent per, er, dragon!_

_He was insinuating that I- Never mind!_

It was time for his test for second job advancement. All he had to do was take out a few monsters and grab the Marbles that they dropped. Thirty would be his mark, and unfortunately, he had no drill spear.

"Hm, hopefully this won't be too hard." Akito shrugged as he was teleported by Kyrin…

…Right into the horde of enemies. They were small octopi with cannons mounted on their heads.

"Well fuck me with a br- Shit!" Akito ducked underneath a cannonball, "Well, all of that dodge training with Kyrin really paid off." He sprinted for an open area, jumping over a cannonball, ducking underneath another then going into a roll. Kicking off the ground as he finished, Akito unclipped the cannon off of his back and set it on full power as he fired in midair, sending him flying back, "Try doing a barrel roll, assholes! Yeah, how do you like me now?!"

The sound of at least thirty cannons being loaded reminded Akito he was very much _unliked _here.

"Yeah… screw you guys too." he chuckled, "Eat this!"

Focusing his magical energy into the cannon, a comical _PWING! _sound came out as he pulled the trigger, a cannonball shooting out on a series of joints, hitting several octopi like a supersonic punch to the face. As the cannonball retracted, Akito let out a laugh, "Damn, that is _awesome!_"

Using the same technique to ward off a few cannonballs coming in his direction, he spun around to knock a few more octopi out of the way.

"Ha! OW! Damn," he snarled as a cannonball hit him in the ribs, knocking him down, cannon skittering away, "Stupid… damn…" Struggling to get up to his feet, he was interrupted mid swear as he was launched and then shot in the face. Tasting his own blood as it leaked from his nose as he was face down, he got up, snarling, "Fuck you guys too…"

As the remaining octopi closed in on him, Akito closed his eyes…

Then let out a powerful scream, stunning the octopi in awe as the sheer amount of determination, rage, and hotbloodedness washed over them. Taking his chance, Akito sprinted over to his cannon and in desperation, put all of his magical energy into his final attack, launching instead of a small fireball, a blazing hot ball of hellfire that exploded upon impact with one of the octopi, killing the group.

"No… wonder we have to… watch just how much damn magical energy we put into our attacks… guess those guidelines exist for a reason… but I'll be damned if that wasn't FUCKING AWESOME!" he cheered, beginning to pick up the Dark Marbles off the ground.

_Now, how do I end this scene?_

_Aniki, did you say something?_

_Uh… no._

Then suddenly a giant anvil fell on top of Akito-

_You're lying about that one!_

_Okay, fine. Excuse me for trying to add some humor and stuffs._

_At least be realistic about it._

Fine, maybe TEN THOUSAND anvils fell-

_Okay, never mind._

* * *

"And, so here I am!" Akito cheered, "Am I awesome or what?!"

"Yeah, you're really cool, Aniki!" Evan smiled at him, hugging his 'brother', "But I'm glad you're safe as well! When you were gone over three days I feared the worst! Heck, even Me-" he noticed Mercedes' death glare, "…even Mir was worried!"

"Er, I guess so," Akito shrugged, heaving his drill spear over his shoulder, "Well, let's go! To Mushking Kingdom, we sail on! Let's go liberate us a kingdom!"

As Akito brought his two friends on, he nodded at Kyrin, who gave the signal to start hauling the Nautilus towards Mushking Kingdom. He took note of the sky… clear and sunny, a bright blue that he would never forget.

_Such a pure day_, he smiled, _I want to see this sky again, later on in life. For now… there's a Kingdom we have to save…_

_And my real adventure starts here… Where everything is bright._

* * *

**So we have Akito getting the first bit of Pirate abilities and-**

**CJ: Take her back! She talks way too much!**

**Mercedes: I do not talk to much you foul, hooded… hoodlum! Geez, the fact you tie me up like that and then just kidnap me! Do you have any idea who I am? Let alone the image you give off with that-**

**I see what you mean. Anyways… begone!**

**CJ: You can't get rid of me- *Poofed away with author powers***

**Rawrz. Fear me. Anyways, did anyone catch the Castlevania reference!**

**Akito: You are having way too much fun with referencing things.**

**Also, did you know that Akito means 'a satisfied man'. Kinda funny, the way this story turns out.**

**Akito: I don't want to know, I don't want to know-**

**Uh-**

**Akito: I DON'T WANT TO KNOW!**

**Alright then. Sorry for the short chapter, but it was mainly just a set-up chapter with Akito getting his first abilities and stuff. Next chapter begins the Mushking Kingdom Liberation arc. And IT WILL BE GLORIOUS!**

**Next time: Will the trip there be smooth sailing, or will they encounter other sinister things before they can even get to Mushking Kingdom? Will Akito survive Mercedes' attempts at his life? Place your bets now!**


	4. The Stormy Spiral Seas

**Maplestory time!**

**Well, finally we get on with some action!**

**Anyways, as usual I don't own MapleStory or Gurren Lagann. Have a nice day.**

* * *

"Alright, here we go! Entering the flooded hills of Henesys!" Kyrin yelled from the bridge. What was great about the Nautilus that if it wasn't it submarine form, the top slid away and had a nice deck while keeping the bridge sheltered.

"Ma'am, underwater scans are clear for now. We shouldn't be dealing with any icebergs." One pirate reported.

"Good…" Kyrin nodded, "Akito, you hear that?!"

"Roger that! It should be smooth sailing from here if we don't encounter enemy resistance!" Akito leapt off the top of a few crates, "We'll be there by the end of the day guys."

"Wow Aniki… you look so amazing and confident!" Evan smiled, "You sure changed quite a bit!"

"I agree," Mir flew around with Seva on his back, "Plus this is tons of fun!"

Grinning to both of them, he turned around to notice Mercedes who was silent as she looked off the starboard side of the ship.

"Mercedes?" he asked as he walked up to her, "Is something wrong? You're awfully quiet… it's rather concerning."

"And what do you mean by that?" she replied in a hostile voice.

"I mean, usually you'd be hitting me or yelling at me or something. Seeing you all quiet doesn't suit you." he shrugged, "So something's up. Mind telling me?"

_Oh sure, _Mercedes grumbled mentally, _You're the source of the problem and now you're asking me if you can fix it? Puh-lease, as if. At least you could start acting mature, I mean, you said you were seventeen! Can't you act like you've grown up a bit? Evan, I can understand, but Akito, why can't you just be more like him?_

"…Mercedes? Mercedes? MERCEDES?!" Akito shook her to see if she was still there, "Okay, there. Seriously, you have to tell me what's up. I can't have you like this, it's just not right. Because the day you go without hitting me is going to be the time the world ends."

"As if! What would make you think that?"

"It's just an expression," he sighed, "Well, if you don't want to talk about it right now, fine by me. Just make sure to tell me at some point, will you?" Walking away to go talk with Evan, Mercedes sighed, _At least he's a BIT like Cid. But that's only a tiny bit… Why did his successor have to be the complete opposite of him?!_

* * *

"Aniki, what's wrong with Mercedes? She's not her usually cheery self." Evan pointed at the said elf as he laid out some cards to play Capitalism with Akito, Mir, and Seva.

"I have no idea. She just keeps staring off into the distance like that. I guess she's thinking about something…"

"Maybe she's thinking about Cid?" Evan offered.

"Cid? Who the hell is that?" Akito asked, taking his share of the cards, not bothering to think about how Seva would be intelligent enough to play cards.

"She didn't tell you?" Evan quirked an eyebrow, "He was like you. You know, with the drill spear, cannon, and I think she mentioned electricity powers."

"Wow, you mean a lot like me?" Akito chuckled, "Aww, and here I was thinking I was original."

"Weeeeeeeell, sort of. She made a lot of remarks about why you couldn't be more like him. Mature, and stuff like that."

"But I think I'm pretty mature." Akito played a Three of Clubs, "What else?"

"Hm, that's mainly it. She also says that you're pretty stupid compared to him."

"Well, I'm still young," Akito bit back a curse as he was skipped, "I don't think I'd know too much."

"She did seem into this Cid guy though," Evan played a Six of Diamonds, "I believe her terms were 'an unbreakable bond', if I recall correctly. Completion!" he threw down the Seven of Spades before Akito could play a card, prompting a, "Fuck!" from him.

"Hm, well, I guess I can talk to her about it later." Akito shrugged as he put down his double Fours to continue on Evan's double Threes, "I don't like it when she's like that."

"You mean you like it when she hits you? Never thought you'd be into that." Evan smirked while Mir fell over in giggles. Seva just maintained his game face.

"Oh quiet you." he glared, "I just meant it isn't normal for her to be like this. That's all."

"Whaaatever you say," Mir's eyes gleamed, "Whaaaaaaaatever you say."

* * *

Mercedes didn't know what to think now. Yes, Akito was a bit like Cid but it wasn't enough…

_Huuuuuh, _she let out a sigh, _Am I hanging onto the past? Cid always talked about the future we'd have but then we never did get around to it because he… _she couldn't bring herself to finish the rest of that sentence. _But Akito did seem genuinely concerned, _a small grin appeared on her face, _So I'm glad for that. Now if only he could act like that all the time… Aha! That's it! I'll just have to slowly train him… No, that wouldn't work. Akito is a too much of a free spirit and far too stupid for training. But then how the HELL did he manage to get to Second Job for Cannoneer, which is known to be notoriously hard in its use? Hell, the fact there were more Cannoneers on Empress Aria's side turned the entire war in her favor when the first Ereve Rebellion took place._

Why did it have to be so hard for her? Last time it was so easy because of the way things turned out. She then realized that the other two Heroes had been different people. Which meant so far, she was the only surviving Original Hero! The thought quickly ran through her head, what if all the other heroes were like this? She wouldn't be able to live with it!

With all her heart now she was praying, that any of the last two (preferably Aran, who was not a theatric fanatic and did not speak like a theater character all the time) had survived somehow. There was no way she could live with a bunch of rookie fighters! Evan could hold his own, yes, but the fact remained he was still untrained and naïve.

Akito, oh Hell, Akito was just a different brand of problem. Immature, rash, unprofessional, the list went on and on! At least he could fight for his life if need be, and maybe he could match up to Cid in a million years, but he would still be… well, Akito!

There had to be a way, yes, just as Cid always put it, there was always a way past your problems… However their problems had always been in wartime against the Black Mage. Cid's solution was generally run in there and just drill through everything like no tomorrow.

But that wouldn't work here. Heck, as far as Mercedes was concerned, Akito was too stubborn to die with how he acted at times. Not to mention he avoided death already! How is it that by getting caught on the Pirate Instructor's personal ship, Akito not only became a Cannoneer, secured free passage to Mushking Kingdom, also became their combat leader, and what sickened Mercedes the most is the fact Kyrin made passes at Akito who just seemed to laugh them off like it was nothing, even if she wouldn't admit the last one.

Okay, she wasn't one to talk, as there was a more than significant age difference between her and Cid, but that was true love and age didn't matter, right?

Not that Mercedes would hear otherwise though. She didn't know it, but she and Akito weren't all that different. Both were too stubborn at times, easily provoked, and were goal driven. Mercedes more than Akito on the last one but that was because Akito's goal was merely to see and explore while Mercedes was bent on reviving her race.

But it's not like either one of them would admit it.

* * *

"Hey Mercedes, brought you lunch. You seemed hungry." Akito offered her a sandwhich with what seemed like grilled fish, a small bottle of water, and an apple, "I'm sorry if it's not the royal treatment but it's the best I could get you."

"Thanks…" she said, sitting down.

"So… do you want to talk about him?"

"Talk about…"

"Cid, you know, my predecessor." Akito lay his cannon in his lap before starting to clean it, "Evan told me it's why you might be upset. We're all concerned for you."

"…Fine, yes, that's why I'm upset."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Akito grinned as he saw Mercedes hastily bite out of her sandwich, "I'm seeing that someone wants to avoid the question."

"Shut up!" she bopped her fist on his head.

"Ah, there we go. Status quo maintained," he laughed as Mercedes hit him again, "You know it doesn't hurt that much. But let's be serious… why is he making you upset… or the better question is, how am I making you upset?"

Widened eyes gave Akito the answer to who it was that was making her upset, "So he told you."

"I want to know. It's not fun seeing a friend like this." Akito said in a brief moment of seriousness, "I know you might just consider me as 'another one of the Hero successors', but I see you as a friend, despite the fact you hit me all the time."

_Perhaps… they are not so different. _Mercedes thought, _But they're personalities are WAY off base from eachother. But they're both kind hearted on the inside, none the less._

"I guess… it might just be you remind me a little _too _much of him and when I see you, I see Cid." she grimaced, "And you act so stupid sometimes while Cid was smart, that I feel like sometimes my memories of him are being well, ruined."

She didn't know where she found the strength to admit it, maybe somewhere, deep inside her heart, she had finally come to terms with the fact they weren't the same person. But very deep. Veeeeeeeeeeery deep in her heart. Her entire mind and heart had yet to realize this, and that was a long and harsh road.

"Aha! I know…" Akito smiled the creepy smile, "In order for you to differentiate us, you must learn our differences by heart! Therefore, every time we must partner for something or have to be in groups, we will be together!"

"E-eh?!" she stammered.

"It's perfect! Therefore by being by me nearly all the time, you will see every difference between us and will come to terms with the fact we are not the same person faster! This plan is brilliant!" Akito pumped his fist in the air, "Anyways- HOLY CRAP HIT THE DECK!" he dived down to the ground, brining Mercedes with him as an icicle came flying at his face.

"ATTACKERS OFF OF THE STARBOARD SIDE! ALL HANDS TO BATTLE STATIONS!" he heard Kryin yell.

"That means you're downstairs Mercedes, I don't want any of you guys getting hurt." he grabbed Mercedes' left wrist only for her to stop him with her right hand.

"I'm a Bowman, I can attacked long ranged targets with ease. Also, as royalty, I must see to it that innocents are not harmed."

"Yeah, yeah," Akito went into his stubborn 'I got this' combat mode, "Let's do this."

Checking over the railings he found three penguins hurling icicles at them. Muttering a few words, he got an odd stare from Mercedes, "Magic. Boosts all our stuff."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Yanno, speed, strength, agility, defense stuff, accuracy-"

"Yeah right-" Mercedes popped up and shot just a bit off but enough to miss the penguin… only to watch her arrow curve a little bit to hit said penguin, "Shut up."

Snickering, Akito leveled his cannon at the penguins and pulled the trigger, shooting out several bombs at once that scattered, not only dispatching the penguins but also melting the ice.

"Hell yeah!" Akito held up a hand, "C'mon Mercedes, don't leave a guy hanging."

Reluctantly she gave him a high five and added a comment on how Cid never bothered with such things.

"It's cause you guys had a war to fight," Akito offered, "I mean, of course you'd be serious. But now the world is quite safe so you can have fun and relax… after all, I'VE GOT A BOB BOMB FOR YAH!" Pulling the trigger again he launched a flaming fireball that was half as large as the Mega-Hellfire-Flare that he had used against all the small octopi, "See? Just let loose every now and then."

"Uh…" she hesitated.

"Well, I guess if you're not going to have your fair share of fun I'll take it," Akito had a winning smile on his face. Muttering a few more words he aimed his cannon at another iceberg and opened fire. Somehow the bombs came out twice as fast, or that may have just been Mercedes imagining things. There was no way Akito was shooting bombs out of a cannon that quickly, let alone shooting _bombs _in the first place! Automatic machine guns could shoot that fast, yes, but a CANNON? There was no way!

"HAHAHAHA! YEAH, I'M CRAZY!" Akito roared, "WHOOOOHOOOO!"

Mercedes had to wonder how he could take combat so un-seriously. Was he asking for death to come up behind him and cut off his head?

"Akito, we got large signals on both sides!" Kyrin yelled, "And we're taking hits from underwater!" The Nautilus shook violently, with Akito gripping the rails with both hands while Mercedes held her arms around him, all the while blushing… not that she'd admit to it or anything…

"What's hitting… holy shit." Akito's jaw hit the ground as a massive submarine made of ice rose above the water. Rubbing his eyes to make sure he wasn't hallucinating, he was now sure what he was seeing was not an illusion. Behind him was another ice submarine, "Well, I guess things just got a little more interesting. Kryin, ready the crew for hostile boarding parties!"

"Got it!" she hit the PA System button, "ALL CREW, PREPARE FOR HOSTILE BOARDING PARTIES! BE READY FOR CLOSE QUARTERS COMBAT!"

"Where's Evan?" Mercedes asked, worried for the young boy.

"Shit! Where is he… Evan?! Where are you?!"

"I'll go look for him." Mercedes assured Akito who was now freaking out. It slightly unnerved Mercedes that this was the first time Akito didn't look as confident. Obviously he was worried about Evan, but the fact that Akito cared for him enough that if he didn't know Evan was safe it would shake his resolve impressed Mercedes. Not many people were like that these days.

"Please. I'll fight these guys off," Akito nodded as a group of Pirates came running with knuckles and guns as their weapons, "REPEL THE INVADERS!"

_And now he regains all the confidence, but I saw the worry in him, _Mercedes thought as she ran through the halls to find Evan and Mir.

* * *

Ducking and rolling to the side, Akito brought up his spear to drill through ice chunk thrown at him. After he was safe he pulled out his cannon and fired a fireball back at the penguins that were preparing to board the ship, "Keep them off as along as possible!"

"We're surrounded sir! We can't hold on for too much longer!"

"…Hmmm…" Akito thought for a second, "Okay, just stay out here as long as possible and then if you have to fall back, funnel them through the hallways using chokepoints. That should make it easier-" He ducked under another icicle, "As for me…"

He ran at full speed and jumped, turned around to face the pirates who gasped as he leapt off the ship and pulled the trigger on his cannon, launching him onto the ice ship. Sliding into three penguins, he found himself surrounded even than before. Well, it's a good thing Akito liked it when the odds were against him.

A small brown blur suddenly found itself on Akito's shoulder, which was Seva, Akito's new pet monkey. His eye glowed with an awesome power as a barrel suddenly manifested with a fuse… that was lit.

The penguins looked at the barrel with great curiosity, and what happens with curiosity? Those penguins soon found out as Akito leapt up in the air at the last second, the explosion propelling him upwards as a large hole was made itself at home in the ice ship. As he handed, a stabbed another penguin then flung it off his spear, making its corpse crash into another, taking both out.

"Yeah, come get some!" Another barrel appeared in Akito's hands and he hurled it, flattening several enemies then exploding, putting another fine hole in the ship.

"AKITO!" He turned around to find Mercedes screaming, "FOUND EVAN! I'LL KEEP HIM SAFE!"

"YOU DO THAT!"

"ANIKI, BEHIND YOU!"

"Hu- SHIT!" he grunted as an icicle lodged itself in his left arm, "Fuck, that'll put some of my moves out of comission, especially my spear." Slowly removing it with a yelp of agony, he spun around and implanting the same icicle in the same penguin that hurled it at him right in the eye, "How's that for _eye_-rony?"

"Shut up Akito!"

"Dammnit Mercedes just let me have my fun!" Akito growled, "Hey, if you finish defending over there, get those pirates to push for a counterattack!"

"Got it, Aniki!" Evan nodded before running off with Mercedes and Mir.

"Well, Seva, let's go." Akito jumped down into the hole and began exploring the ship. Hustling and bustling of penguins could be heard throughout the icy walls, with an explosion every now and then which was Akito launching a few bombs at unfortunate groups that crossed his path, "Wait, why the hell am I walking through the halls? I can just blow this place to smithereens."

Even more explosions were heard at this point as Akito decided to blow a hole in every wall and door he found, causing panic throughout the penguin crew.

Seva was cheering on Akito with small pom-poms that came out of nowhere, with a massive smile on his face the whole time, "E-eeep!"

"Huh, Seva?!" Akito turned around and jumped back, avoiding a nasty slash wound but had a bit of his coat cut off, "What the-"

"So you're the scoundrel that's been blowing up my propertay!" a blue penguin in royal looking robes growled from the shadows followed by a one eyed penguin, "How dare you do that to my propertay!"

"…" Akito leveled his cannon, but hesitated when Seva was put in front of the penguin, "Son of a bitch."

"Haha, you won't hurt him, huh?" the penguin smirked, "Bring me my hammer, I'm going to enjoy this. On second thought, no. I'll kill him slowly, but first we'll bring him onto his ship that we've been attacking. Watch his friends die in front of him while I slowly cut you open. I heard there was the elf girl and that redhead pirate on there too, so I guess I'll have my fu-"

_BOOM! _A bomb flew straight into the mouth of the penguin, who somehow ate it.

Akito's spiral eyes were glowing red instead of green this time around, "Oh, you can ruin my day, nearly kill my friends with an icicle, put my arm out of commission for a while, and interrupt a good moment with my friends." The wound in his arm suddenly stopped bleeding and healed itself, "But once you involve my new friend Seva, threaten to kill all my friends and crew, insinuate that you are going to abuse and rape two of them, and _cut my brand new coat_, you are dead to me."

Dashing forward with a war cry, no one noticed the small core drills enveloping his hands that began spinning as he began to drill holes everywhere in the commander's body. It was a death that would've made several people sick just by hearing the screams. The maniacal laughter and screams of torment were no help to the already panicking crew onboard. Kicking the commander up on his feet, who was barely standing, prompting one to ask just how he managed to live, a sinister smile crept upon Akito's face as the drills on his hands vanished only to be replaced by a rather large drill on his right hand. The drill began to spill very quickly, disorienting the commander as he tried to keep up with its spinning, hoping it was all just some game that if he kept up, he would be spared. Akito proved him wrong by diving drillfirst and making a large hole in his stomach, "Die."

The commander did as he was told, slumping over like a man shot a few hundred times.

Akito produced another barrel bomb and left it to explode on the body, "Seva, let's go."

Seva nervously got on Akito's shoulder as his eyes turned back to their innocent blue, "Well, let's find the engine and get out." Seva held back a curious look as he mentally shrugged, somehow knowing that it was safe now.

It didn't take long to find the engine since he could wander the halls unopposed as those who had witnessed his slaughter of their commander quickly told the others onboard. They quickly scattered and ran as Akito strolled down the hallways, "Wonder what they're so afraid of? I know I started to get a little bit angry at that commander penguin but then I don't remember what happened… Seva, do you remember?" Seva gave him a curious look but then decided to reassure Akito it was alright, "Ah well, blast it. Now, just to make another barrel bomb," he felt more magical energy drained out of him as the barrel materialized, "Light the fuse… and RUN LIKE HELL!"

Sprinting through the destroyed corridors, Akito cursed as he realized blowing up all the walls, doors, and other assorted objects wasn't a good idea as said objects were now part of accidental blockades in his path.

_Wait, why don't I just blow up all the blockades? _Akito facepalmed as he ran, taking out his cannon, "Huh, when did my arm heal? Ah well, not thinking about it now!" Blowing a hole in several collapsed walls, he made it up to the deck of the ice ship.

"Here goes nothing!"

"Akito, jump! Hurry!" Mercedes called out, sounding rather concerned.

_So she really does care, _Akito smirked as he sprinted as fast as he could with Seva still on his shoulders, however the ice made it hard to get a good footing and he mistimed his jump, "FFFFFFUUUUUU-" Closing his eyes and mumbling prayers, he pulled the trigger when he felt it was right. Daring to open his eyes he caught a glimpse of a hand grabbing his wrist, "Mercedes?"

"You… you absolute moron!" she admonished him while still blushing at the contact, "You nearly fell into the ocean there!"

"Huh?" he looked behind Mercedes to find her holding Evan who was holding Kyrin who was holding several other pirates, and lastly as the anchor was Mir, who had seemed to grow again, "How many guys did you take out?"

"The whole ship, and the commander." Mercedes said inbetween sniffles, "You had us all worried when you hadn't come out after we finished cleaning them up."

"Alright everyone, HEAVE!" Kyrin yelled as they yanked their co-captain up, "Good work today everyone! Unfortunately we're rather damaged and will have to be repaired for the time being but I can still move us over to the small island over there, so we can rest up!" A huge sigh of relief was heard, "But if we all work 150% tomorrow, we'll be good in no time!"

Everyone was too busy sighing to notice the two friends who were in a rather compromising position. Akito groaned as he opened his eyes, as his head had hit the deck rather hard, "A-ack!" Closing his eyes, he quickly tried to act like he was asleep.

"Akito? What's wrong?" Mercedes shook her head as the sudden yank had disoriented her, "A-ah!" Akito had opened his eyes, which was a big mistake as he stared right into Mercedes sky blue eyes. As they realized what exactly was going on (which was that Mercedes was lying on top of Akito and while pushing herself up had put a hand on his chest. Minor details.), the two suddenly had deep blushes on both of their faces. A split second later they were already arguing.

Which was helpful as they didn't notice Evan snapping a picture and Mir snickering, which was odd considering his voice had gotten rather deep with this growth, "Those two can't see the plainly obvious, correct, Master?"

Evan raised an eyebrow at Mir's sudden speech change, "Uh, when did your suddenly become so… uh…"

"Mature in speech? I suppose it has to do with this but I think I can still have the fun we used to have before this, right, Master?"

"I thought I told you not to call me that. It's just Evan."

"O-oh! I'm so sooooo sorry Mas, er Evan! I'm so sorry oh man how can I make it up to you-"

"Yup, same old Mir." Evan chuckled as he stroked Mir's wings, continuing to watch the scene unfold.

* * *

"Moron!" Akito yelled, butting heads with Mercedes.

"Idiot!" Mercedes yelled back.

"Same thing!"

"I know!"

"So why didn't you come up with a different insult, miss I'm-so-smart-everyone-else-is-wrong?"

"Because you said it first! You stole my insult!"

"What the hell? How would I steal an INSULT?! Besides, it was a different word!"

"I-it doesn't matter! You stole the general idea!"

"Well, if you're thinking like that, we're of equal intellect then if we're both thinking of the same thing to say to eachother!"

"You take that back right the _fuck _now." Mercedes seethed.

Off to the side, the pirates (including Kyrin) were placing bets on who would snap first.

"My bet's on our new captain." one chimed in.

"He can hold in own in combat, but words? Nah, my money's on the blonde elf there."

"You know what Dave, I'll take you on with that! Week's worth of deck scrubbing duty." All the bickering stopped as the key six words were said. It was the ultimatum. Only if you were so sure that you'd win would you _ever _put a week's worth of deck scrubbing on the line. Kyrin had ridiculously high standards when it came to cleanliness, so when your turn came around for scrubbing duty, you wouldn't be getting much sleep unless you did it right the first time around… which meant you didn't sleep much either.

"Oh, you're taking it that far Roy? Alright, let's do this. You win, I do your week. I win, you're doing my week."

"Then let's do this!" the two glared at eachother before turning back to the two arguing friends. Afterwards, more bets were exchanged, friends became enemies, enemies became friends, and soon the entire ship was at war about who would win this epic clash of words.

"Spoiled royal!"

"Hey, that rhymed. Slightly."

"Nah, it wasn't a _real _rhyme though… which shows your intellect!"

"That was a cheap shot!"

"I'd make a mom joke but-"

"Oh that's you why you little-!" Mercedes tackled Akito and began trying to punch him.

"Fuck!" Dave growled.

"Have fun, _scrubby_." Roy laughed as he grouped with several other winners, who were now counting their newly earned mesos.

"Wait, they're fighting physically now-"

"Nope, not gonna take it. Double or nothing for deck cleaning duty? Nah, I'll play it safe."

"Asshole." Dave grumbled as he watched the fight with the rest of the losers. Little did they know that Kyrin would be pushing them extra hard for doubting their new co-captain. The winners were now making bets between themselves (with money only) about who'd win the fist fight. Akito obviously had strength and Mercedes had speed, but Akito's 'forced' natural training allowed him to dodge with ease and yet his own slow punches were easy dodges for Mercedes.

It went on for a few minutes, with neither getting a clean hit on eachother when Mercedes fell on top of him from sheer fatigue. No one noticed Akito's eyes glowing green as Mercedes quickly covered his eyes with her figure. Both were breathing heavily… as if _something else _had just been done between the two on deck.

"You… idiot…"

"Shut up… cracker."

"What?"

"I just thought of a parrot 'cause we're on a pirate ship, and parrots like crackers… right? Huaaaah…" Akito lost consciousness at the same time Mercedes did, both of them laying with eachother in peaceful bliss.

"And here's another picture." Evan smirked as he snapped a pic.

"Are you sure we should be doing this, Evan? I totally am like super supportive of this relationship but still…" Mir's brain was obviously getting adjusted to the massive leap of maturity, as he jumped between maturity and youthful mindsets, which Evan found rather endearing.

"I'm sure it'll help bring a smile to a few faces," Evan grinned, "Besides, it'll be useful if they do get together, you know, tell the love story from the beginning and whatnot."

"I… I suppose so. Very well, let us carry on." Mir yawned, "But for now we should rest… it was a long and hard battle we fought today."

"You're right…" Evan undid the coat he had received from one of the pirates before counterattacking which revealed a massive bloodstain, and thankfully the wound was mostly healed, "Let's get this checked out."

"Mushking Kingdom… wow I can't wait to see it, Evan! It'll be so much fun and stuff and we'll get to see the princess when we rescue her and stuff…" Mir's mindset changed back to his childish side, "But we need to get stronger! You're already kinda strong but we need to keep training! That way we'll be invincible!"

"Yeah… let's do that, Mir." Evan smiled through the pain he felt as he walked to the infirmary, "We'll protect Mercedes and Aniki. Whatever comes our way, we'll get through it… just like Aniki."

* * *

**Nighttime**

Plenty of tents had been set and they had all had their fair share of food (complete with a food fight), and Akito was patrolling along Mercedes.

"So why'd you decide to take the longest watch duty?" Mercedes asked as they watched the crackling fire.

"The men first. Always," Akito threw another dry stick in the fire, "They never teach you that as a queen? That's always what you do. It's not just about loyalty and stuff… I mean, these guys followed me even though I'm new, inexperienced, and all that. The least I could do for them is to watch over them. They're like the family I never had."

"So… how was your family then?"

"They… they wanted me to stay on the farm my whole life. I wanted to explore the world, like my grandfather." Akito smiled as he took out his logbook and his grandfather's, "I might not be as good of a writer as he his, but I want to be like him. Not a care in the world, just going out and doing whatever I want. Sure, Evan's there which limits me a bit, but it's good since I won't get carried away."

"I see…" Mercedes shivered as a cold breeze blew, "G-geez it's cold…"

"Here…" Akito took off his coat and put it on her, "Keep warm. Wouldn't want Her Highness to be get a cold now, would we?"

"You know… you've never actually called me that."

"I wanted to try it out. Just doesn't have the same ring as Merc though," Akito stroked his chin, "Is it alright if I call you that?"

"I… I s-suppose so…" Mercedes buried her head in the coat as she blushed, but it didn't help as Akito's scent was all over it, "N-nyegh…"

"Eh? What's wrong?"

_C-crap! He noticed… ermm… Aha! _"Do you ever wash this thing?" she asked in a faked angry tone, even though she knew he had only been wearing it today.

"Oh… eheheh, that's a good idea," he laughed sheepishly while scratching the back of his head, "Er, I guess staying out so long in the sun wasn't too good of an idea now, huh?" His answer was a coat to the face, "Well, excuse me for trying to be funny with you." He slipped the coat back on.

"S-shut up…" Mercedes tried to hide her shivers again Akito noticed.

"Mercedes, you need to actually rely on others every now and then," Akito said, irritated.

"F-fine… come over here…" Mercedes said forcefully. Akito sat down next to her, leaning his back on a log, very confused.

"So…?" a searing blush came on his face as Mercedes shifted and rested her head on his chest, "E-eh?!"

"Y-you said to rely on others… I'm r-relying on you t-to be a good p-pillow and blanket," she stammered.

"F-fine." Akito nodded, noticing the others had gotten up for their night watch shift, "G'night Mercedes."

"Good night to you too…" she closed her eyes and began to relax.

Akito looked upon her sleeping figure, "Mercedes… No, good night… Merc."

And while he quickly fell asleep, he didn't see the grin creased upon a certain elf's face.

* * *

**ALRIGHT! Whooohooo!**

**And yay we have Mercedes being a Tsundere on the ship. I think so at least.**

**Plus, mooooooore ship teasing between the two. But will Mercedes actually be… **_**the one **_**for Akito? Or perhaps his heart will be won by another?**

**Anyways, you saw Akito's Red Spiral Eyes this chapter. Yup, I will leave you to wonder about that until it is all revealed! But we'll just go over a few things about it. YES I know it is sorta a Deus Ex Machina sort of thing because it came out of nowhere… until you look at Gurren Lagann, where Simon's crazy part was him ****puking ****out Spiral Energy if I recall correctly. This was Akito doing so in his own way but caused by something else. You'll also notice that he **_**doesn't **_**remember what he did during that time. I will let you draw your own conclusions on that.**

**If you want to provide some criticism, please make it at least constructive. Flames are rather unappreciated.**

**But if you really liked this chapter, review, follow, favorite, all that jazz! Tell your friends! Tell your family! Spread the word! Okay, I'm done being silly now!**

**Have a nice day!**


	5. War Is (Not) Hell

**MapleStory time!**

**Yaaaay finally getting to Mushking Kingdom!**

**I am SO sorry for not getting this out sooner. I got distracted with other projects, mainly my Infinite Stratos writings. If you wanna check them out, go ahead.**

**But, in return, MushKing Kingdom isn't going to be them running back and forth doing quests. Oh no, there will be war.**

**As usual I do not own anything besides my plot and Akito.**

* * *

"For the last time, Mir, it's just for convenience!" argued a blushing Mercedes who was being teased by Mir ever since Akito had called her 'Merc'.

"Come on, it isn't just that! Right Akito?!" Mir pleaded with wide eyes.

"Just convenience," Akito winked at Mercedes once Mir had turned his back, "Mir, stop bothering her about it."

"But she wouldn't just let you start calling her that unless she wanted to!"

"Yes. For convenience." Akito grinned slightly at Mir's frustration as he helped lift some crates full of tents back onto the ship, "Come on guys, let's get on. Evan, where are you?"

"Yes!" he heard Evan cheer, "Finally!"

"What is it?" Akito walked on over to his spiritual little brother.

"Finished!" he held up a necklace that had several sea shells on it, "Now I can give this to Victoria when we get back!"

"Nice," Akito patted Evan on the shoulder, "Come on, let's get back to the ship. Race you."

"You're on!" Evan shoved his way past Akito and sprinted towards the Nautilus, "See you there Aniki!"

Akito grinned before he chased after Evan. It wasn't a long run though, so obviously Evan won, but Akito held back with his cannon skills, which he could've used to win despite the headstart he got.

"Everyone on?" Akito yelled, getting nods and confirmations by everyone aboard, "Alright, let's bug outta here!"

"Here we go!" Kyrin pressed the button to remove the walkway up and pulled away from the island, "Now, off to Mushking Kingdom!"

* * *

"Wow, no killer penguins this time around," Mir cheered as they stopped off at the dock area which was at the top of the walls. After King Pepe had used this technique, the Mushking Empire had built great walls to act almost like dams, and somehow, they were built of vines of great sizes, which lead one to believe just how fertile the land was there.

"Mhm, you said it." Evan said, stroking Mir's head, "So, we're going to liberate a kingdom… wow, I never thought we'd actually do something like this."

"Ah, it's good to be back," Mercedes took in a large inhale, "Ah, it smells as sweet as the last time I was here. Now, where's-"

Mercedes turned around to find Kyrin giving Akito a small kiss on the cheek, with the latter looking very uncomfortable.

"Someone's got com-pe-ti-tion!" Mir sang out, but was silenced by a glare.

"Sorry guys," Akito came jogging up to them, "Uh, yeah. Kryin held me back for a bit."

"We saw." Evan's voice came in a teasing tone.

"Oh, sorry. Uh yeah, I'm not really sure why she did that. Guess it was for saving the ship," he shrugged, hopping onto the dock, "Seeya guys some other time!"

"Take care of yourself!" Kyrin waved back before going back into the ship's bridge and started bringing it back home. Akito watched the ship slowly vanish into the horizon, a few small tears falling down his face as he watched his brothers in combat, however short, go off. In truth, he hadn't know them for that long, but he made an effort to know each and every person during breaks from Kyrin's Training From Hell. He had been very friendly with everyone, and was rather popular on the ship due to that. And now he watched them slowly fade away…

"Aniki… are you alright?" Evan's concerned voice asked meekly.

"Sorry, just… remembering all the times I had with those guys… But let's not let that get in our way!" he whipped around and ignored the tears as they fell to the ground, "Come on! We've got a kingdom to save!"

"M-Mercedes, is that you?!" a voice asked.

"Oh! Majesty!" Mercedes bowed, then subtly elbowed Akito when he didn't follow suit like Evan had, "Akito…"

'Ah, hello there!" Akito smiled.

"Do you have any tact at all?" Mercedes sighed.

"Well, he's friendly! So I figured I could act like a friend! Besides, friends are good, right?" Akito asked innocently.

"But-"

"Mercedes, it is fine," The MushKing spoke with a chuckle, "Your friend is quite carefree, I see. Clashing to you, as it seems… is this why you have chosen him?"

"C-chosen him?!" Mercedes stammered, "O-of course not! Friends, that's all."

Mir snickered behind her back.

"Very well then…" he started hopping down the stairs, "If you'd all follow me…"

"Wow… it's all so beautiful…" Evan's eyes looked at every plant, animal, and living creature that was around in the rather large encampment.

"Yes, us in the MushKing Kingdom do like the natural beauty. We saved as many as we could. Unforunately Pepe wants to use them as slave labor. I think I am beginning to understand why he wants this land so much."

"And that would be…" Akito started.

"This land is indeed magical. It is self sustainable, meaning it can live without any help. We simply aid its growth, but if you take away from it, it will grow back in due time."

"So it means… infinite resources, right?" Aktio went on, "I see… what a greedy little penguin he is! Has he ever just tried _asking _you guys if he needed help?"

"The Pepes have never been known for their humility." the MushKing sighed.

"Open the gates! Open the gates!" the group heard a few voices yell. Before anyone could do anything, Akito had already leapt off the small tower of staircases and was hopping down the roofs nearby to get to the gates.

Four guards made it through, then the gate began to close, "Wait! There's still others!"

"They're too close! And we can't risk anymore!" the gatekeeper said with a bit of regret.

"No… damnit…"

"Open it." Akito's voice said with resolve, "I will save them."

"A… a human?" they stammered.

"Well, did you hear me?" Akito glared, "I said open the gate so I can save them!"

"But stranger, they'll do terrible things if you-"

"I don't care!" Akito readied his cannon, "Out of the way and open the gate!"

"Suit yourself…"

Akito ran through the instant he could, "Where are they…"

"No! Don't do it! They're too close! Too many!" several panicked mushrooms yelled, "A-agh!"

"Renaldo!"

"I'll… be fine…"

"Get behind me." Akito said, leveling his cannon at the impeded horde, "Burn!"

Bombs flew out of the cannon, and with expert skill Akito took them out while avoiding hitting the fallen mushroom. As the last of them died, Akito walked over to the fallen, "Someone get a medic."

"No… it's too late for me…" Renaldo sighed, "You see here, sonny?" The mushroom pointed at a bite mark, "They got me. I'll be turned into one of them…"

"I…" Akito felt tears.

"Will you honor a dying lad's request?"

"What is it?"

"Kill me… before I turn into one of them." he gestured towards the burning and exploded Renegade Mushrooms, "I want… to die… Aghhhh… free…"

Akito closed his eyes as he lifted the drill spear, "I'm sorry."

"Thank you, lad." were the last words he heard before the spear went through the mushroom. Akito picked him up and slowly carried him back towards the anxious onlookers.

"He's dead." he spoke in a monotone, "Those other mushrooms got him." he pointed to the bite mark, "He asked me to kill him before he turned into one of them. Where is his family?"

The crowd parted to reveal a female mushroom and child mushroom. Slowly but surely, Akito forced his feet to carry him to them.

"What happened to daddy?" the younger mushroom tugged on Akito's coat.

"He went out like a hero. And now…" Akito knelt down to pat the child's head, "He's always with you."

"Really?" the child's eyes lit up, "So I won't have to worry about if he comes home?!"

"Yes…" Akito forced a teary smile, and placed a finger over where he thought the heart would be, "He's always here. Remember that."

"I-I will…"

Akito turned to the newly made widow, "I'm sorry, I couldn't reach him in time."

"Y-you… you stopped him from becoming… them… you have my gratitude."

"Akito! Akito!" Mercedes called out, reaching the Cannoneer, "What…"

"I was unable to save one." Akito sighed as he helped wrap the body in a cloth which he gave to the widow, who carried off her husband. He felt wet all of a sudden, "Rain… how fitting."

Akito didn't move even as all the other creatures began to leave the gate area. He stood still, allowing the rain to soak his clothing.

"Aniki… you'll get sick."

"Then at least I got what was coming for letting someone die."

"Aniki…"

"Evan, take Mir and Mercedes and find somewhere to stay." Akito instructed, "I'd like to… contemplate things for a while."

"At least… get out of the rain, Aniki…" Evan said as he dragged his feet, "Mir…"

"Yes, Master." Mir gave a nod to Akito, who nodded back as if to say he'd be fine.

"Mercedes, you should go too."

"I'm staying with you. Please, get out of the rain."

They took shelter underneath some thicker leaves that made up walkways, and Akito sat down on a bench before he sighed, a sad expression on his face, "Mercedes, have you ever seen someone die in front of you?"

"Yes."

"Ha, what I fool I was," Akito chuckled darkly, "I came here looking for an adventure, found myself rushing out to save a man thinking I could play hero, then look what happened."

"It wasn't your fault."

"If only I hadn't been holding back against the gatekeeper! If I had just forced my way through I could've saved-" his gaze was abruptly turned to the side as a silky hand slapped him.

"M-moron!" Mercedes stammered, partially blushing at the contact, "Look! You're not supposed to be like this! Instead of getting all depressed, you're supposed to be getting fired up, waiting for vengeance!"

"But…" he stopped as Mercedes lifted a hand.

"What caused this? You were so eager, then-"

"He asked to die." Akito started crying, "I couldn't save him and so he asked me to kill him before he transformed! I have innocent blood on my hands!" Burying himself in his hands, he started crying loudly, "The only way to avenge him is to kill myself then!"

_Slap!_

"Merc…" Akito whispered as he felt his cheek, which was still hurting despite the fact Mercedes didn't mean for it to hurt that much.

"Akito, listen up. I'm sick of this!" Mercedes grabbed him by the collar, "Look at it this way, they came after him! If they didn't bite him, he'd be fine! It's not your fault, it's theirs!"

"… I… never thought of it that way." Akito's long face turned into a grin, "I… I am such an idiot."

"You'remyidiot." Mercedes said quickly, turning away with a face that rivaled a tomato.

"What was that?"

"U-uh, nothing!"

"… I'm going to get Mir to ask- Ah!" Akito ducked underneath a slap as Mercedes whipped around, "Phew that was-" he looked up and saw a little bit underneath Mercedes' rather short skirt.

"P-pervert!" Mercedes kicked him, knocking him onto the ground. However, the ground was slippery and she lost her footing, and landed on a certain person…

"Ouch! Geez, who's the pervert now!" Akito hissed, "Evan! Help! Mercedes is trying to take advan-" Mercedes covered his mouth and held him still while he flailed crazily.

"S-shut up!" she snarled with a blushing face, "A-ah…"

The two stared into each other's eyes as the rain fell around them, and Akito stopped flailing everywhere. The stormy rain had calmed down to a slight drizzle at this point, a soft _pit-pat_ of rain being the only noise. Before anyone could do anything-

"Evan?" Akito called out, breaking the sight between each other's s eyes, "Um…"

"I-I'm sorry…" he quickly turned away, "I-I had no idea you were in the middle of something!"

"Middle of… Aah!" Mercedes quickly jumped off of Akito, "I, er, sorry for falling for you, Imeanfallingonyou!" she quickly corrected herself.

"I-I, er, sorry for making you fall!" Akito turned his gaze elsewhere, "I-I'll make it up to you!"

"T-then carry me! I stayed out in the rain to bring you back! S-so you h-have to do so!" Mercedes turned away while crossing her arms, "G-go on!"

"Um…" Akito shrugged before sweeping her off her feet and carrying her bridal style, "So, where is the place we're staying?"

"O-over here…" Evan stammered as he watched Mercedes look away, "Um…"

"I left her in the rain and all that. I think it's a fair trade." Akito explained, not shrugging so he didn't drop Mercedes, "So, let's go."

"Phew…" Akito set Mercedes down on the bed, "Geez… that was a downpour."

"You're really strong though… n-not that I was looking or anything! It just took a while to get here, that's all!"

Akito seemed to buy it, "Well, I need to find towels. And this coat is just brand new!" he sighed, "Well, I'll go talk to Evan about it."

"Get me one too." Mercedes said before he left the room.

"Got it!"

As the door closed behind him, she shivered as she thought about Akito. How his seemingly cheery outside wasn't all there was to him. It had hurt to see him so broken like that, where he couldn't even move. It wasn't his fault that he had to deliver a mercy kill to that poor mushroom… yes, if he had been faster he would've been fine, but Akito said before that the past didn't matter. You had to keep moving forward, break through everything that stands in the way of your dream!

And yet, all it took was one tragic death to break him. Sure, she had helped him out of it, but how many more times could she do that? It would only work so many times…

_Stupid, stupid! _she chided herself as she went over her memories, _How could I call him 'my idiot'?! It's like I'm in lo-, oh… oh no, this is not happening! W-what's going on with me…?_

"Mercedes? You alright in there? I heard the bed rocking…" Akito said as he came in, "I got some towels. Here…" he handed her a few, "Do you want to talk about what's bothering you? I feel that something has you upset."

"N-nothing is bothering me." she stammered, taking a towel, "Thank you."

"I'm not sure if I properly thanked you for snapping me out of my slump." Akito smiled, "Really, you're a great friend."

"It's nothing," she quickly assured him, "I was just helping you out. Besides, it's creepy not seeing you with a smile."

"Well, at least I've started to realize what this could turn into. It's not all sunshine and rainbows here, because this is war. There's going to be sacrifices…" Akito fell silent, "Hey, Merc, can we promise that we'll never sacrifice ourselves without consulting everyone?"

"W-what?!" Why was Akito talking about this sort of thing?!

"Look, I… I'm afraid, all right? That's why I want you to promise me this so we can prepare ourselves and all that, so we don't just randomly die without telling the others what we were aiming for." Akito said in a rare voice of seriousness, "I don't want any more tragedy! I'll bring happiness to the whole world! I'll break through sorrow with this drill!" he shifted the drill spear into his hands and clenched it tightly, "And fill that hole with happiness for the whole world!"

"I see…" she nodded, "Very well then, I will take you up on that promise."

"Me too. Now, I need to get to sleep…" Akito fell asleep as his head hit the pillow.

* * *

"So, we're going to go fight?" Mir asked as the trio stepped outside the gate, with it closing behind them with a resounding _CLANG!_

"Yeah…" Evan gripped his wand tightly, "Are we ready?"

"We're always ready." Mercedes said quickly.

"Let's go."

Readying his cannon, Akito lead the group through the hills, waiting for the enemy to come out.

_Wait a second… if all of this grows back…_

"Akito… I don't like that smile on your face…" Mercedes mumbled.

* * *

**_BOOM!_**

"R-run!" the Renegade Mushrooms yelled, scattering from their formations.

"THIS IS WAY TOO MUCH FUN!" Akito laughed over the explosions as Seva launched another barrel, flattening and exploding another group of mushrooms and land, only for the land to grow back.

"Damnit Akito, you'll put out my hearing!" Mercedes grumbled, sniping a few more mushrooms Akito had missed.

"Magic Bolt!" Evan pointed his wand at another group, with Mir opening his mouth and raining magical bolts on them.

"Big Bang Toss!" Akito threw another barrel which caused enemies to go flying as it exploded, "I love this ability!"

"Akito, less collateral damage!"

"But it grows back!" Akito dived underneath a cannonball of moss, "Wait, what the hell are they-" _Splat! _Another one hit him in the face. "Okay. I just washed my face fifteen minutes ago…" Wiping the slime from his face, "I am NOT AMUSED!"

Sprinting forward, sliding his cannon on his back and brandishing his drill spear, he leapt with a lot of strength and came down from the skies, drilling a hole in the moss cannon then punching a fleeing mushroom.

"You have to be joking," seethed Mercedes through clenched teeth, "He only starts taking the fight seriously when they've dirtied him?"

"Aniki could be more serious, but it's a nice contrast from yesterday," Evan shrugged as he launched a fireball at their attackers, "However it suits him more. Destruction rains from the heavens, Lightning Bolt!"

"Is it necessary to say things like that?" Mercedes wondered as she ducked down then popped back up to return fire as Akito swept through the sides, distracting them from attacking the remaining duo.

"Aniki said it could help, something about making your attacks more powerful."

"Hm… Charge towards tomorrow!" Mercedes shot forth and then launched enemies into the air, "No regrets!" She finished them with a Parting Shot, thankful she had relearned one of her favorite skills. Now, if only she had her rather abusable Leaf Tornado…

"Here's to a barrel of fun!" they heard a voice yell accompanied by fleeing enemies, "Or maybe a barrel of rum?"

"Damn his annoying puns and play on words."

"Aniki hasn't been doing that too much though."

"He's going to, trust me." Mercedes grumbled as she opened fire on the retreating enemies as Akito chased them, fear present in their eyes as they fled from the (crazy) Cannoneer. (Then again, anyone who carried a cannon as a weapon had to be a little bit crazy.) However, Akito was his own brand of crazy, "Damnit Akito, just let them stand still! I'm still recovering my marksman skills!"

Not that her protests could be heard about his drill spear's steady hum as he leapt up and landed on one of them.

"Stop." Mercedes held back Akito as he was about to go over the hill, "We're supposed to scout out here. We're not sure what we're dealing with so we have-" she stopped as she peered over the hill, "Uh… oh…"

It was a sight that was breathtaking yet horrifying. Yes, it was a group of high organized mushrooms that were wielding weapons used by beings outside. Guns, swords, shields, a professional army. Horrifying because it was on the side of Pepe.

"We report this to the Mushking. Now." Mercedes snarled as she hastily went back to inform the king of their discoveries.

* * *

"I suppose all is lost then," the MuskKing sighed as he shook his head, "We have not the technology to match up to them. How they even got it here is a mystery to me as well."

"Most likely they took it and transported it here for their initial assault," Evan explained as best he could.

"So are you going to…" Mercedes trailed off, unwilling to finish her thought.

"Yes. It appears we will have to surrender."

"NO!" Akito suddenly screamed, "Look, who gives a damn about the odds?! I for one don't! Just because we're outgunned, outnumbered, and outskilled doesn't mean anything! They're fighting for selfish reasons, for personal glory and honor!"

The hustle and bustle of the generals in the de facto throne room stopped their chatter as the Cannoneer gave his speech. And for once, it was silent instead of the normal panic.

"But us, we… we fight for justice! To take back a home that has been stolen! But we've got another thing as well, fighting spirit! We haven't lost it at all, but we're damn close! All we need to do is keep trying, trying, and trying. Just because we're up against a superior enemy doesn't mean anything! Because, just who the hell does Pepe think we are?!"

Raising his hand to the sky and extending one finger, he yelled, "SO WHO'S WITH ME?!"

A roar.

A roar that showed just how much these people were willing to give for a homeland that had been stolen from them, one that cried out for revenge and spilled blood of their oppressors.

A roar that Pepe felt from his comfortable throne in the palace that made him tremble in fear at just what had been unleashed. Had he been wise and more confident, he would've ordered an immediate crushing on the defenders.

But it's not like that would've done much.

"We will face all odds, because they don't matter!" Akito kept on going, fueling the crowd that had come in to see what all the commotion was all about, "We're going to be the ones to defy all logic, kick reason to the curb, and show the world that the impossible is possible!"

Another resounding cheer, and this time Mercedes couldn't help but join in this time around. He really did know how to please a crowd, it seemed.

And so a plan was crafted. It was going to be a bloody war, and many knew they would not survive. But every single being on the side of the MushKing was going to dedicate every single fiber of their being to their Majesty. All thanks to one man whose hot bloodedness had been spread out to everyone there.

"Are you ready?" Mercedes asked as Akito sat looking out a window, "I mean… today we just faced them hurling slime at us. Tomorrow, it's the real deal."

"Heh, I'm pretty sure we can all survive. Taking a cannon to the face is easy enough if you're determined enough to get up after being whacked." Akito laughed, "Besides, I have a good feeling about this one."

"What makes you think that?" Mercedes looked out the window and saw Evan playing with Mir and other children out in the streets.

"Something… feels changed. Yeah, it was just one speech, but I think that's all people needed, a source of inspiration. Maybe I was in the right place at the right time."

"I see… I would agree."

"Heh."

"What?"

"You agreed with me for once, usually we're arguing." Akito chuckled as he thought back on all of their arguments, "Maybe for once we actually got along."

_Whack!_

It was a playful slap, not one with any ill intent, like a slap between two old friends.

"Hmph! If that's what you think," Mercedes forced out but was drowned out by a laughing Akito.

"Hahaha, you took it so serious, Merc," Mercedes found herself blushing at the nickname she hadn't quite gotten used to yet, "It was a joke." she still looked angry, "What? I can't tell a joke?"

"That was a rather mean joke," Mercedes tried to slip on her 'cold ice queen' mask, huffing and turning away.

"Alright, alright, you got me. Sheesh…" Akito shook his head, "You gotta loosen up before our fight. We don't need you freezing up or anything."

"Moron!" Mercedes snapped, "You're the one who froze up and now you're telling me not to do the same?!"

"Yeah," he admitted sheepishly, "I know I'm kinda a hypocrite, but that's totally fine by me. I mean, just looking out for a friend, right?"

Mercedes found his carefree and caring attitude very heartwarming and fuzzy yet so damn annoying at times as well. It frustrated her to no end that he could swap between smart and stupid so quickly as well. There was no way Akito didn't have multiple personalities. It was the only way to explain it, in her opinion anyways.

"Well, look out for me, I'll look out for you."

"Agreed."

* * *

It was time.

The Three Heroes stood at the top of the hill, overlooking the entirety of the renegade mushroom squads. There were hills upon hills upon hills filled to the absolute brim of soldiers. Compared to Akito's force of a mere thousand, they stood no chance in numbers. What did they have? No strategy, no superior technology, not much magic, and overall, were severely outdone.

"Alright then…" Akito focused his magical energy and spread it to his allies, "Let the spirit of the seas be among you, Monkey Magic!"

"Ancestral beings that watch over us, grant us your blessing. Spirit Surge!" Mercedes' eyes glowed as she called forth the power of ancients.

"Magic that fills the air around us, grant us protection, Magic Guard!" Mir and Evan cheered, "Let's save these guys!"

Yes, Akito's troops weren't professional, they weren't equipped, knew just enough about military formations, and hell, their leader had no ideas in military strategy and may or may not be off his rocker, but their leader was one that would never back down in the face of danger. They had seen him for more than just a leader, as many were present when he charged out the gate in order to save the guards who had fallen back last. The bravery was there, and even more so was the sadness as he brought back the corpse and explained what had happened.

"I know you have fought this battle many times and stained the ground with blood and ichor, and once again you must do battle, but today… we fight FOR JUSTICE!"

Akito lead the charge with a might shout, intimidating the army as he ran right in, firing his cannon like crazy, fire and bombs going everywhere with an occasional explosive barrel mixed in every now and then.

Mercedes elegantly shot her way through, using a combination of her Rising Rush attacks and massive amounts of dakka with her crossbows to cause chaos as she bounced along the flanks.

Evan and Mir were a perfect team, using magic in a efficient manner which took out many enemies in one cast with an assortment of spells.

"I won't let you take away tomorrow!" Akito roared as the mushrooms piled on top of him. _Damn… is this the end… NO! NO IT ISN'T!_

In one final, last ditch attempt he inserted the drill into his cannon, handle first, and fired it, pouring all of his spirit into the cannon.

The result was a giant explosion of green and a drill shooting up into the air as it tore through layers and layers of mushrooms and armor. The fighting stopped after that as everyone stared to look at the drill skyrocketing into the great blue beyond. Of course, until gravity pulled it back down, but Akito leapt and caught it, smiling the whole time.

_Bang!_

"Agh!" he snarled as he fell over, clutching his right shoulder, drill spear hitting the ground.

"The commander's hit! He could be dead!" the good mushrooms yelled in a panic. Seeing their commander fall, it demoralized the team as they fell back.

"Aniki no!" Evan sobbed as he ran over along with Mercedes, trying not to step on the fleeing mushrooms.

"No…" a voice stopped all the pandemonium, "I SWEAR IF YOU RUN HERE I WILL BRAND YOU ALL TRAITORS AND HUNT YOU DOWN! NOW, DON'T BE AFRAID TO PAY THE ULTIMATE PRICE FOR A BRIGHTER TOMORROW! WE WILL NOT FALL BACK! NEVER RETREAT NOR SURRENDER, AND I, YOUR COMMANDER, COMMAND YOU TO **HOLD THE FUCKING LINE!"**

Time stood still before a ear shattering roar shocked the renegades as the soldiers on Akito's side saw their leader get back up after being hit, after losing blood which he still was by the growing red stain on his shirt, and they continued their fight.

Because they'd be damned if the leader who gave them a fighting chance got up from being dead just to stand up and fight again and they, the very much alive fled.

And so the battle raged on.

* * *

"Man, I really wish there was an easier way of doing this." Akito sighed as he mopped up the rest of the renegades stragglers despite his injury.

"Eh, I'm not very familiar with Cannoneer skills," Mercedes admitted sheepishly as she tended to some injured mushrooms.

"Back," Evan called as he teleported in, "The MushKing has been told of our victory. He says we've done a splendid job."

"You hear that?" Akito called out to the army he led as he leapt onto a rather large rock, "Your great king has said that all of you did a splendid job! Not just 'good', but splendid! Amazing people, good work!"

Cheers erupted from the survivors as Akito's powerful voice carried the news all the way to the soldiers far away from him. Today had been a good day to die, but they didn't, which made it all the better.

Mercedes smiled as she sat down, _Yup, he's still a crowd pleaser._

Landing on the ground after jumping off the large rock, Akito took a seat next to Mercedes, "So, next time we keep pushing on, huh?"

"Yeah… then they'll be free." Mercedes smiled, "All thanks to you, no less."

"Nope, it wasn't me. If it wasn't for the brave souls here today, I doubt it would've gotten done. Fighting spirit only gets you so far, Merc." Akito grunted as he shrugged, checking his bandages.

"Phew, I am tired…" Evan let out before he fell asleep, landing in Akito's lap. Mir then landed on the ground next to Evan and snuggled up against his Master, going to sleep as well. Mercedes and Akito looked at the duo before grinning.

"Yeah, you get a good sleep, bro." Akito patted Evan on the shoulder.

"You two are really close," Mercedes stated the obvious as she stroked Evan's hair.

"Sir?" a mushroom came waddling up, not noticing the two's activities, "I'd just like to-"

"Yes?" Akito looked up but then the mushroom quickly turned away.

"I-I'm sorry, I had no idea that you were celebrating with your girlfriend! Pardon me!" the soldier quickly dashed away as if not wanting to be seen.

"But I'm not his-" Mercedes stopped and sighed as she realized it was all futile.

Ironically, the one person that reminded her of Cid, her former lover was the one person she did not enjoy being paired up with. However, the universe has a perverse sense of humor, while fate, irony, and fortune can be real bastards at times, which is what Mercedes blamed as she grumbled to herself. The more hilarious part though, was that sometimes Akito was as dense as a fucking brick and sometimes was able to act like a smooth ladies man (she had seen those other warriors ogling him. Not that she cared…) without even trying.

Ah, how the universe works, being your best friend to absolute bitch in .389 seconds.

"Well," Akito smiled as he checked his bandaging again, "I need some sleep… power… drained…"

* * *

**Ahhh, yeah I really procrastinated and then rushed on this one. But hey, we got the first battle and real (major) tear jerker. Yeah, I know Akito mood whiplashes, but come on, it's Akito. He's not staying down in the dumps for long.**

**Oh, and just for TEHLULZ I threw in quite a bit of ship teasing between Mercedes and Akito.**

**And eyup, that was just the expeditionary force, if you get what I'm saying.**

**But yes, this is not just skirmishes. This is a WAR. There will be injuries, there will be death.**

**Now, it may sound like it's going to be dark… but this IS Akito we're talking about…**

**But yes, I am alive! See you all next chapter!**


End file.
